Balbharti revises books to give lessons on road safety

Changes were made after NGO’s report on old illustrations

A schoolboy wearing a helmet while riding his cycle; children using a zebra crossing, and various infographics about road safety behaviour have been made part of textbooks for Classes 1 to 10 by Balbharti, the state’s publishing bureau.

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The changes were made after Safe Kids, a city-based NGO, submitted a 22-page report to Balbharti pointing out several “unsafe actions” shown in the earlier illustrations.

The NGO, with the help of teachers from the Brihanmumbai Mahapalika Shikshak Sabha, reviewed textbooks from Classes 1 to 8 and submitted their detailed report to the bureau in 2017, following which the study material was revised. The review revealed that there was very little content on road safety and overall safety of children in their homes and immediate environments.

“While there was very little information on road safety, even the images used to illustrate different poems, actions, etc, were inappropriate,” said Madhavi Gunandekar, programme director, Safe Kids Foundation.

“For instance, in the Class 1 Marathi textbook, a boy was shown riding a cycle but was not wearing a helmet. Similarly, an illustration which was a part of the poem ‘Wheels on the bus’ showed a boy standing in the middle of the road and another one waiting at the bus stop which should have been on a footpath,” Gunandekar said.

Vivek Gosavi, director, Balbharti, said they have taken note of these suggestions and have tried to revise and correct their content.

“We make corrections as and when we get suggestions, since 2012. However, from 2016, when syllabus revision began, a lot of content on road safety was added to our new textbooks. We are open to more suggestions in the future as it would help improve the content,” said Gosavi.

Some of the key additions to the textbooks include information about traffic signs; bicycle riding manual for children, and awareness about road safety week, etc. “Children emulate what they see in textbooks. Making road safety a part of their everyday lessons is the best way to teach them good practices,” said Rupa Kothari, managing trustee and executive director of Safe Kids Foundation.