A SCHOOLS Road Safety Patrol Competition kicked off in Georgetown on Tuesday to mark the start of National Road Safety Month. Over the next month, there will be a heightened presence of active Schools Road Safety Patrols, marshalling students across the nation’s roads.
The National Road Safety Council (NRSC), in collaboration with the Police Traffic Department, is, therefore, cautioning motorists and pedal cyclists to be on the lookout for the children, play a pro-active role in ensuring their safety and be mindful of the five Cs of Road Safety: Courtesy, Caution, Care, Consideration and Commonsense.
The starting function, held at the Red Cross Headquarters, in Kingston, under the theme ‘Drive Wise and Save Lives’, also featured a training seminar, which brought together some 100 excited and road safety conscious children from secondary and primary schools in and around the city, for the contest.
The schoolchildren were coached in the essentials of road safety procedures, aimed at adequately equipping them to become efficient and effective patrols and geared for the national competition, judging for which will be based on overall performance in uniformity, posture, call commands, alertness and care and handling of stop signs.
The participants were cautioned to be in a constant state of preparedness, since judges can show up unannounced, at any location and at any time, for the purpose.
Although no details were announced about the prizes, Coordinator, Ms. Ramona Doorgen, said four prizes will be awarded to the four ‘Best Individual Patrols’.
The rivalry began Tuesday and will run until the last Friday in November.
Noting that the NRSC, in collaboration with the Police Traffic Department, has already trained between 300 and 400 school patrols, Doorgen expressed disappointment that many of those are not functioning and lack visibility.
Others have ceased to do patrol duties where road safety markings were washed out by the rain but, contending that it is everybody’s business, the NRSC is calling on schools, as well as residents in the various communities, to waste no time in alerting it whenever such problems arise in order that it could be collectively addressed.

COOPERATION
Meanwhile, testimony to the level of cooperation needed and existing among stakeholders – in both public and private sectors- a number of road safety paddles were presented to the NRSC by Manager of Neal and Massy, Ms. Debbie Baldeo, on behalf of Moneygram.
In the effort to involve as many schools as possible in the competition, Doorgen said schools which do not, as yet, have road safety patrols and are interested in entering the competition, are advised to contact the NRSC at Red Cross Headquarters as soon as possible and arrangements will be made for their students to be coached and furnished with paddles and patrol belts.
Tuesday’s function was addressed by senior officials of both the NRSC and the Traffic Department of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), Chairman of the NRSC, Surendra Khayyam, NRSC coordinator Ramona Doorgen and executive member, Hilbert Archer.  Present also were Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ms. Angela Johnson; Head of Police ‘A’ Division Traffic Hugh Denhart and Traffic Officer ‘C’ Division Brian Mc Kenzie.
Training sessions were conducted by Corporal Munesh Dial of the Police Traffic Department, Eve Leary, assisted by Mr. Hilbert Archer, executive member of the GNRSC.
The sessions were highly interactive, with school teachers raising pertinent issues addressing the bugbears of road safety and making proposals for heightened road safety consciousness and students asking and answering questions as well.
The programme also allowed  practical road safety patrol drills in the vicinity of the Police Traffic Headquarters, Eve Leary.