Eighteen schools across the country are to benefit from physical improvements to their school zones road infrastructure over the next three years, which will be implemented by the JN Foundation’s “X” Marks the Spot Crosswalk Road Safety Campaign.

Parris Lyew-Ayee, chairman of the JN Foundation, made the disclosure at the unveiling of the upgraded infrastructure work done at the Hazard Primary School in Clarendon, on November 7, 2018, under the first phase of the “X” Marks the Spot Crosswalk Road Safety Campaign.

“The Campaign aims to encourage advocacy and discussions about road safety in schools and households; and to use the results of the Child Road Safety Assessment Report to identify other areas for the infrastructural interventions, which will include: the installation of crosswalks, signs, speed reduction surfaces and other counter measures,” said Mr Lyew-Ayee.

The JN Foundation chairman noted that Hazard Primary School was the first of 18 schools to be upgraded under the campaign. The educational institution benefitted from the erection of: signage for bus lay-bys, pedestrian gates, the widening and paving of the sidewalks.

Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister and Member of Parliament for Clarendon Central, the Hon. Mike Henry, commended the JN Foundation and its international partners for the improvement undertaken at the school.

He said the school, which also has a Special Education Unit for physically challenged students, will greatly benefit from the upgrading; and should make students safer while in transit to and from school.

The “X” Marks the Spot Road Safety Campaign is being implemented in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UK-registered charity, the FIA Foundation, of the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile.

Dr Rebecca Tortello, quality education specialist at UNICEF, said the children’s organisation was serious about road safety; and that the partnership with the JN and the FIA Foundations will help to raise awareness about road safety and increase understanding among students and the general public.
“Importantly, it will also enable us to uplift the crossing zones for 18 schools, in areas with the highest incidences of road accidents. We are working together with our partner the JN Foundation and our funders, the FIA and Abertis Foundations, to ensure that all of our children enjoy a safe route to and from school,” she said.
Rebecca Ashton of the FIA Foundation, stated that her organisation was happy to be associated with the “X” Marks the Spot Campaign; and, they are confident that it will have a positive impact on reducing road fatalities in the vicinity of the targeted schools.
The Campaign is being informed by a recently completed Child Road Safety Assessment Report commissioned by the JN Foundation, which provided baseline data to improve the safety of children on roads, particularly near, or on their way to school.
The research identified specific schools and zones where children are most vulnerable to incidences of road traffic crashes, injuries, and fatalities. These areas require specific infrastructural and/or safety interventions, both at the physical and social levels.
Over the past five years, more than 120 children have died on our nation’s roads. Additionally, an innumerable number of children continue to suffer from life-altering injuries, which are a direct result of the over 70 kilometers traffic crashes, within 100 metres of school zones, during the past decade.

Contact:  Dionne Rose l JN Corporate Communications