Education key to curbing road deaths and injuries

Living healthy is desirable to all of us. We want to be in the best state of mind and body. It is for this reason we take measures to ensure we are doing fine. We strive to get to the bottom of any symptom that gives the sign we are unwell.

However, going by reports of road accidents countrywide, we see a contradiction. Drivers don’t seem to care. As a result, accidents hit us left, right and centre—all the time. The expression “road carnage” has become a cliché.

Road accidents kill, maim and destroy property. Police statistics show that by April, 2015, over 900 people had been killed in road accidents. Hundreds more were injured, some ending up with permanent disabilities.

The reports show that most road accidents in Tanzania result from carelessness on the part of drivers, not mechanical problems of the vehicles.

And the law doesn’t appear to be the root of the problem. The fines for traffic offences are high—a whole Sh30,000 or six-month jail term (or both) for a minor offence! That isn’t helping.

Cynics say stiff penalties result only in raising the amount of bribe money offenders part with to the benefit of unscrupulous traffic officers.

The country needs to focus more on road safety education. Drilling should start from a very young age. Serious drilling will help to nurture people who value life and property in earnest.

The focus should be on why we need to protect human life all the time. Each of us must learn to appreciate the value, not only one’s own life, but that of others as well.

This education must be conducted in schools, houses of worship, streets and workplaces. Unless there is success changing the mind-sets of road users—especially drivers who handle public service vehicles—all our efforts to end road carnage end in frustration.

PARENTS MUST BACK TEACHERS

It is every parent’s desire that their child excels in school. However, the big question is: does every parent do his/her everything possible to ensure their child benefits fully from what is offered at the school, the place that should provide the foundation for the young one’s good future? The answer is a categorical “No”.

Most parents, according to school administrators, believe that all they need to do for their young ones is putting them in school, pay the fees and provide for all essentials as demanded by learning institutions, period!

Parents have a bigger role than that, which entails closely monitoring their children’s progress at school. This requires the parents to keep in touch with their children’s teachers, something that will help motivate them (teachers) to do their best.

This is the point the St Thomas Academy director, Mr Brown Mwaipopo, made recently during the institution’s 13th graduation ceremony.

He noted with concern that most parents are satisfied with “dumping” their children at a boarding school and vanishing, never to bother come back to see them, even during the monthly visiting days. That is wrong!

Parents must realise that though teachers of any school worth its name will strive to ensure their charges excel, the main stakeholder in a child’s success is the parent.