We all have a role to play towards ensuring safety of lives on our roads, this led to a collaborative effort between the Oyo State Model Education System Interventions (OYOMESI) and the Oyo Sector Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), to organise a Train the Trainer workshop for Basic School Teachers in Oyo State. The workshop which was centred on Road Safety Education was held on October 30, 2017, at the Federal Cooperative College, Eleyele, Ibadan.
Attendees at the workshop include, Special Adviser on Education to Gov. Abiola Ajimobi, Dr Bisi Akin-Alabi; the Special Assistant on Education, Mr Adewuyi Adekola; OYOMESI School Safety Administrator, Negesti; the Sector Commander of FRSC Oyo Sector Command, CC Cecilia Alao; the Acting Zonal Commanding Officer of RS11 Headquarters, Oshogbo, Mr Gbenga Shobowale Oke, FRSC Officers and School Teachers.
L-R: Negesti, Mr Adewuyi Adekola, Dr Bisi Akin-Alabi, CC Cecilia Alao and Mr Gbenga Shobowale Oke.
The workshop which was made up of technical/training sessions and group demonstration by Officers of the Corps, was commenced with a welcome address by the Sector Commander, CC Cecilia Alao, who welcomed all and sundry to the workshop. She stated that the training which is birthed out of a collaboration between the FRSC and OYOMESI is aimed at training the teachers on the basic rudiments of road safety with the hope that they will pass the learning to their pupils.
In his keynote address, the Acting Zonal Commanding Officer, Mr Gbenga Shobowale Oke spoke to the audience on the need to have organised a training workshop of this nature ever since the infusion of Road Safety Education into the curriculum of basic schools since March 2012. He added that the Federal Road Safety Corps has mapped out strategies to execute this programme, in order to entrench road safety culture and awareness in school children by training their teachers.
A practical demonstration on Understanding the Road and 4 papers were delivered by Officers of the Corps during the workshop on;
- Causes, Effect and Prevention of Road Traffic Crashes/Automobile Checks and Routine Maintenance,
- First Aid/Casualty handling,
- Road Traffic Signs, Signals and Markings, and
- Child Safety Tips.
Dr Bisi Akin-Alabi while giving her address.
In her address, which started with an excerpt from the words of Donald D. Quinn, “If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn't want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher's job”. Dr Bisi Akin-Alabi stated that, teachers have one of the most demanding vocations in the world and in order to fulfil their important roles with excellence, they need training, motivation as well as regular mental, emotional and spiritual rejuvenation. Hence, to prove that an educational system is recognised as pertinent to the development of the state, region or society, the entire society must demonstrate the importance of the teacher by appreciating teachers, which should be evidenced by the resources spent on building teachers’ capacity.
She went further to explain the 3rd strand of OYOMESI which is aimed at bridging this gap and hence, provide a structured Teachers’ Continuing Professional Development and Incentive Programmes that would be implemented to suit world best practices. This has a multiplier effect of building a good legacy in the educational sector in Oyo State and achieving the 4th goal of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal, as desired by the Oyo State Government under Sen. Abiola Ajimobi led administration.
Speaking of the present realities, Dr Bisi Akin-Alabi stated that the training needs of members of the Oyo State teaching force are truly daunting, which is the reason OYOMESI is collaborating with organisations such as the FRSC, to conduct Capacity Building Workshop on Road Safety Education for teachers in the 33 LGAs in the state.
She added that OYOMESI acts as a bridge to achieving sustainable developments in the education sector and hence, welcomes such collaborative acts from Government Organisations, NGOs and the Private Sector. An example of such is the recent collaboration with Microsoft and Signal Alliance to roll out the biggest Microsoft Imagine Academy in Africa.
In conclusion, she reiterated the news of Ibadan belonging to the UNESCO Learning Cities Network, which implies that other parts of the State are Learning Neighbourhoods. Of which she gave her assurance that the Oyo State Government will continue to strive to ensure that all value additions of learning neighbourhoods are realised and our society is truly transformed.
In her remarks, the FRSC Oyo Sector Commander, CC Cecilia Alao stated that it is responsibilities of the organisation to ensure that road traffic crash in the state is reduced to the barest minimum through the use of educational tools, enforcement and stakeholders’ collaboration.
Group picture with some teachers that participated in the training.
She added that FRSC is determined to ensure that our pupils are imbibed with safe-road culture and enhanced behavioural modification through the use of approaches of curriculum and co-curriculum activities to structure and infuse safety education in schools.
CC Alao commended the State Governor, Sen. Abiola Ajimobi for creating a laudable vision for the benefit of future leaders of the state through the Oyo State Model Education System Interventions (OYOMESI) initiative.
No comments:
Post a Comment