Traffic situation along Osmeña Blvd on November 13, 2023, with the ongoing construction of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lane. | CDN File Photo/Niña Mae Oliverio
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The director of the Department of Education in Central Visayas (DepEd-7) supports Cebu City Traffic Management Committee (TMC) resolution about traffic education.
Traffic education was part of the agenda in the latest TMC meeting, according to Cebu City Councilor Rey Gealon.
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Traffic education important
Gealon, who also sits as TMC’s chairman, said that the TMC acknowledged the importance of traffic education in elementary students.
“As easy as crossing the street to avoid jaywalking and understanding traffic signages and roadmarks, like pedestrian lanes, has to be discussed to the young ones being traffic contributors themselves,” Gealon told CDN Digital.
He said that after a thorough discussion and deliberation, the TMC decided to set a yearly calendar of activities for the personnel of the education section of Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) to visit schools and educate the students through an ‘age-appropriate’ lecture and workshop.
As a result, the TMC issued a resolution to institutionalize ‘Traffic Alang sa Kabataan’ by allocating appropriate resources like the personnel, and other materials needed to teach under the basic education curriculum.
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DepEd-7 shows support
After learning about the resolution, DepEd-7 Director Salustiano Jimenez said that traffic education was already part of the lessons in the basic education curriculum.
“I’m so happy that the city government is also pushing for that (traffic education),” Jimenez told CDN Digital in a phone interview on Sunday, November 19.
He said that letting the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) personnel teach the students could also be part of the ‘disaster risk reduction’ activities.
“Whenever there will be activities sa atoang school, naa ta’y mga activities, pwede na nato i-tap sila nga moadto aron actual gyud nga ma[interact] sa mga bata [besides] the teacher. We welcome that,” he said.
(Whenever there will be activities in our schools, we have many activities, we can tap them to go there so that [can interact] with the kids [besides] the teacher. We welcome that.)
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Learners knowledge should be widened
The education director added that such an event was important most especially in the city which had a huge number of students.
“For me, it’s of dire importance as well for our learners to know and to learn traffic rules, labi na kung naa ta ro’y mga kabag-uhan nga gi-[implement] sa city government, labi na sa Cebu City kay highly urbanized city, grabe gyud ang kadaghan sa mga sakyanan, ang traffic, [maong] need gyud kaayo,” Jimenez said.
(For me, it’s of dire importance as well for our learners to know and learn traffic rules, especially that we now have new things that the city government has implemented, especially Cebu City because it is a highly urbanized city, there are really a lot of vehicles now, the traffic [that is why] this is really needed now.)
He believed that through traffic education, the learner’s knowledge would be widened.
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