From the new academic year, school police officers may appear in general education schools in Belarus

August 17, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA/. Stopmen may appear in general education schools in Belarus from the new academic year. This was announced today at a seminar-meeting of employees of the departments and inter-district departments of the UGAI of the Vitebsk region, responsible for the prevention and warning of road traffic injuries and interaction with the media, by Anna Banadyk, Senior Inspector for Special Assignments of the UGAI of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus, BELTA correspondent reports. For the first seven months of this year, there has been a decrease in child road traffic injuries in the republic. Thus, the number of road traffic accidents involving children decreased by 27% to 235, and the number of children injured in accidents decreased by 26% to 243. From January to July, 11 children died on the roads, and although this is 45% less, traffic police officers are concerned about each such case. The beginning of the academic year causes particular concern for traffic inspectors, when boys and girls return home to the city from camps and from their rural relatives, having forgotten the rules of safe behavior on the road during the holidays. As statistics show, the fears are not unfounded. In August alone, four children died in Belarus: two in the Vitebsk region, one each in Minsk and the Minsk region. On the eve of the new academic year, traffic police officers, public security police, teachers, and parents must unite their efforts to ensure children's safety, emphasized Anna Banadyk. In this regard, from August 27 to September 10, a set of events "Attention! Children are going to school" will be held in the republic, and from September 3 to September 9, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Education will hold a Safe Traffic Week in all schools. In addition, from the beginning of the academic year, stopmen may appear near all schools located directly close to the roadway, who, together with traffic police officers, will be on duty at pedestrian crossings and help schoolchildren cross the road. An experiment with their participation was conducted by some educational institutions in the country, and based on their experience, methodological recommendations are being developed, which are expected to appear in schools by September. The traffic police also insists that the road from school to the crossing should be marked with bright footprints, along which children could remember the safe way home. "The task of adults is to teach children not so much the rules of the road as the rules of safe behavior on the roadway," emphasized the representative of the UGAI of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The seminar-meeting of employees of the departments and inter-district departments of the UGAI of the Vitebsk region, responsible for the prevention and warning of road traffic injuries and interaction with the media, was organized by the department of agitation and propaganda of the UGAI of the UVD of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee and the education department of the regional executive committee.-0-