MEDIA STATEMENT

KZN TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT EMPOWERING LEARNERS

Scores of pupils from schools around KwaZulu-Natal will converge in Durban tonight for the provincial finals of the Road Safety Participatory Education Techniques Project (PET).

PET is one of the initiatives undertaken by the KZN Department of Transport to raise road safety awareness at grassroots level by asking schools to identify road safety problems that have a negative impact on their communities. Once the problem has been identified, the transport department appoints a panel consisting of various road safety stakeholders, including the Department of Education and road safety engineering, enforcement and the education sections within the transport department.

All the entries are then put on a selection process and based on pre-determined criteria schools are selected and put on a year-long road safety programme where they are work shopped on how to conduct research on the identified road safety problems. They are also taught how to use various forms of information gathering techniques such as library, internet, collecting statistics, conducting surveys, individual and focus group interviews and to record people's behaviour. After analyzing all the information, pupils are then asked to formulate a solution which is presented in the form of a research document.

The regional finals have been completed. Eight schools from the Transport Department's four regions, Pietermaritzburg, Durban, Empangeni and Ladysmith will be participating in the provincial finals and will be presenting their research documents between Thursday and Friday. Three winning schools, one from the urban category and two from the rural category, will each receive R10 000 worth of equipment for their respective schools.

The aim of PET is to encourage learners to be aware of road safety issues in their communities and to empower them with practical research skills. Since 2000, when PET was introduced the KZN Transport Department has sponsored eleven computers and a variety of sporting equipment to various schools in the province.

Among the dignitaries who will be attending the awards ceremony at the Blue Waters Hotel in Durban tomorrow at 14h00 at is the CEO of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport, Dr Kwazi Mbanjwa. All media are also invited to attend.

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