A transport advocacy group on Tuesday appealed to the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to incorporate road safety education into their curriculum, emphasizing its potential to improve public discipline and awareness of traffic regulations.
“One of the things we want to include in the curriculum of TESDA and DepED is road safety literacy for ordinary students and commuters to know the road signs and road safety so that once they mature, they are already disciplined,” said the group’s representative, Bautista.
The call comes in light of issues surrounding modern jeepneys, which have been seen racing to pick up passengers—an issue largely attributed to the absence of designated loading and unloading zones.
Bautista stressed the importance of shaping the mindset of commuters early on. “Kailangan yung disiplina magsisimula sa mga mananakay. Kung maayos natin yung mindset ng ating mga estudyante o mga mananakay, tuloy-tuloy pati mindset ng mga driver at sistema sa ating transportation,” he said.
Earlier in March, the Department of Health (DOH) also voiced concerns over the rising number of road-related injuries and fatalities. The agency recommended revisions to existing road safety policies, including enforcing speed limits in specific areas, mandating anti-lock braking systems (ABS) on motorcycles, and enhancing the engineering design of public utility vehicles.
Notably, DepEd and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) signed a memorandum of agreement in 2017 to introduce road safety programs within the K-12 curriculum in a bid to reduce traffic accidents.
