§ 31. Sir W. Davisonasked the President of the Board of Education, in connection with the road casualties for April, numbering over 10,000, of which fatalities to children numbered approximately five a day, what are the precise measures which have been taken by his Department to secure that the head teachers of all schools throughout the country are impressing upon the children in their schools the serious dangers of lack of care in crossing highways and generally explaining the rules of the road.
§ Mr. EdeI am sending my hon. Friend copies of four official documents in which my Department have drawn the attention of authorities to the need for including road safety training as a definite and regular part of the curriculum in all schools. A new film on road safety produced by the Ministry of Information in collaboration with the Ministry of War Transport and the Board of Education specially for showing to children has recently been made available to local education authorities.
§ Sir W. DavisonDoes not all this relate to post-war training? When five children are being killed every day surely some special request should be made now to local education authorities throughout the country that, each day, for say a couple of months, the head teacher should draw the attention of the children on assembly at the school to the great danger of road accidents?
§ Mr. EdeMay I say to my hon. Friend that, to my knowledge, frequent reference is made to this matter in schools, and all kinds of practical demonstrations and exercises are given, but I venture to say that if the same thing were said every day for two months, long before the end of the first month the children would be paying attention to something other than the words of the teacher.
§ Mr. GallacherIs it not the case that the real problem in connection with road fatalities to children is the urgent need for an extension of playing fields for the children, and does that not raise the question of taking over the land?