Keralites need to be more transport-literate, says Minister

Keralites should not lag behind in transportation literacy. Each individual should make it a point to become transport literate, Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty has said.

He was speaking after inaugurating the ‘Safe road to school’ programme, organised by the Kerala Road Safety Authority and the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre, at Government Central High School, Attakulangara, here on Thursday.

Compared to other States, Kerala had a higher literacy rate, standard of living, higher education, and good health care facilities. However, when it came to road transport, Keralites needed to be more careful. It was important to teach children from a very young age the basic lessons related to transport. “The General Education department will consider the matter seriously during school curriculum revision,” he said.

Every individual should be aware that traffic rules need to be followed strictly. It was with this objective that the Kerala Road Safety Authority and NATPAC were organising a one-day road safety awareness training for select students from the upper primary to the higher secondary level. Students from 100 select schools across 14 districts of the State will participate in the ‘Safe road to school’ training, he said.

Handbook brought out

Minister for Transport Antony Raju who presided over the function said the Motor Vehicles Department had brought out a handbook to be included in the higher secondary curriculum. The handbook had been submitted for the curriculum committee’s approval. Students who study the handbook in school would not require learner’s licence. Kerala would be the first State to implement such an initiative, he said.

The Ministers together released the logo and the handbook for the training programme.