FG inaugurates Committee on Children Accident Prevention Project

THE Federal government has inaugurated an implementation committee on securing the safety of children using roads to school.

The Implementation/Technical Committee was set up by the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu to implement the terms and conditions of the collaboration between the Ministry and Children Accident Prevention Initiatives (CAPI) on the project.

Speaking during the inauguration on the Permanent Secretary, Dr Jamila Shua’ra, described the initiative to provide safe environment for school children between ages 4 and 14, using the roads as apt and timely.

A statement by the Director Press, Federal Ministry of Education, Mrs Chinenye Ihuoma said the project is tagged, “Go to School…..Be Seen….Be Safe.”

Shua’ra, urged the Committee members and CAPI to go beyond the inauguration to ensuring that the impact of the project is felt at both the urban and rural communities across the country.

It would be recalled that the Federal Ministry of Education and the Children Accident Prevention Initiative (CAPI), a Non-Governmental Organisation, involved in the protection and fostering of rights of school children, signed a Memorandum of  Understanding (MoU) to secure the safety of school children using the roads across the country by kitting up to 2.5 million children in basic and secondary schools, both at the Federal and State levels with reflective jackets and arm-bands free of charge, in order to increase their visibility to vehicle operators.

Members of the committee are drawn from the Federal Ministry of Education, Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and the Children Accident Prevention Initiative (CAPI).

They are responsible for ensuring the proper take-off of the project all over the federation through periodic meetings to strategize on its implementation and other programmes incidental thereto.

The committee is also to advise on the modalities and plans to employ towards achieving the objectives of the initiative and a successful national launch.

Other terms of referende include: “be involved in all courtesy visits to resource persons for the purpose of facilitating the national launch of the project; to liaise with the identified stakeholders towards the realisation of the objectives of the project; and to monitor the implementation of the project and issue out periodic reports and review on the status.”