Twelve-year-old Andree Singh, a Class VII student of GMT Public School near Jalandhar bypass, died after she was hit by a speeding Innova car outside her school while she was crossing the road on Saturday. Call it a sheer co-incidence that a day before, on Friday which was also Children’s Day, the education department issued orders to all schools — government, aided and private — to install a board of traffic signs at the main gate of the schools under Safe Vaahan Scheme, as per orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. However, due to weekend, the orders reached schools on Monday in which the district education department has clearly stated that “all schools must install a large board displaying all traffic signs and ‘school ahead’ board at the main gate of their schools”. The orders have been issued by the district education officer in coordination with the district transport office and traffic police of Ludhiana. The orders also state that if boards are not installed within a week, a departmental inquiry will be initiated against the schools. Talking to Newsline, district transport officer Anil Garg said, “This step is a component of the Safe Vaahan Scheme initiated for the safety of schoolchildren. All traffic signs must be displayed on a board outside schools and speed limit, ‘school ahead’ etc should be displayed on boards to warn the commuters. We issued the orders a day before the unfortunate accident happened and a student of GMT School died while crossing the road in front of her school.” Kundan Vidya Mandir, Civil Lines, is running the campaign ‘Sahyog’ to sensitise its teachers, bus drivers and students to traffic rules. Principal Navita Puri said, “The boards are duly placed outside our school as part of our campaign Sahyog. The area witnesses heavy traffic dangerous for students. Thus, we launched this campaign to teach our students how to protect themselves and cross road safely. Drivers have been educated on how to park buses and accompany students while crossing road.” Sanjeev Thapar, principal, PAU Government School, said, “We have already displayed a board outside our school as it is extremely important.”
