The Walk Wise Project
China
2013-2014 YEAR-END REPORT
LETTER FROM THE FOUNDER OF AIP FOUNDATION safety measures. The project is tailored specifically to the needs of the communities it serves, and focuses on practical, easy-to-implement, systematic lessons so teachers can feel confident delivering the information to their students. We actively seek guidance and engagement from the very community members that the project aims to support in order to ensure that it reflects the reality of the local road environments. The emphasis on community ownership is a major factor of the project’s success so far, and ensures that knowledge and skills taught under the Walk Wise project can be passed on for generations to come.
Dear Friends and Supporters, Looking back on this year, I am particularly proud of the strides made to improve the safety of children in Chongqing Province, China as they travel to and from school each day along mountainous roads. A child’s education is precious, and it is critical that they feel safe and confident travelling to school whether walking alone, riding a bicycle, or travelling on their guardian’s motorcycle. We want parents and communities to feel secure in the knowledge that they and their loved ones have the awareness and skills to safely use the roads. While roads are designed to increase mobility and prosperity, they come with their own dangers if they are not properly utilized. This is what the Walk Wise project is about – inspiring children and communities to become smart road users in order to grow and prosper without the devastation that comes from road traffic crashes. This year, the Walk Wise project supported by Chevron implemented a comprehensive road safety curriculum for grades one through six at 18 primary schools throughout Kai County in Chongqing Province, in addition to other road safety awareness activities. These schools were selected according to proximity to dangerous road conditions, such as precipitous mountains, poor visibility, high traffic density of heavy trucks, or inadequate infrastructure with limited 1
2013 - 2014 Year-end Report
As the report demonstrates, we have seen encouraging change in knowledge, attitude, and behavior among students from the Walk Wise project. Students more frequently use the “stop, look, listen, think, and cross” method before crossing the roads and many have told us that they feel safer travelling to school using skills from their road safety lessons. Still more work is necessary in order to increase and sustain these positive changes and effectively reduce the rate of road traffic injuries and fatalities in the region. Leveraging the momentum of this past year, the Walk Wise project will scale up to 38 schools throughout Kai County in 2014-2015, and by 2017, road safety education will be provided to 100,000 students and their communities throughout the Chevron Chuandongbei (CDB) Gas Project area. I am grateful to see the roots of a road safety culture starting in Kai County and greatly look forward to the continued expansion of the Walk Wise project in the coming years. Safer children and more prosperous and healthy communities will dramatically benefit the Chinese society. Sincerely,
Greig Craft President & Founder Asia Injury Prevention Foundation The Walk Wise Project
THE CHALLENGE Each year around the world, nearly 1.3 million lives are lost as a result of road traffic crashes, and between 20 million and 50 million people sustain serious injuries. Currently, road traffic crashes are the leading cause of death of young people worldwide.1 China is no exception to this global issue. More than 60 million vehicles were added to China’s roads between 2007 and 2010, resulting in over 30 deaths per hour throughout the country. As China rapidly develops and more and more citizens acquire motorized vehicles, road users, especially children and pedestrians, are increasingly vulnerable to road traffic injury and fatality.2 In Kai County of Chongqing Province, approximately 94% of the land is made up of mountains and hills, and many of the roads are windy, bumpy, and of poor quality. Frequent fog and rain compound the dangerous road environment. Despite these dangers, approximately 78% of students walk to and from school every day.3
ASIA INJURY PREVENTION FOUNDATION The Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing road injuries and fatalities in low- and middle-income countries. For more than 15 years AIP Foundation has been delivering effective road safety programs in locations across Asia and Africa.
THE WALK WISE PROJECT Chevron and AIP Foundation partnered to launch a school-based program in 2012 which provides much needed road safety education to children, teachers, parents, and the communities of the CDB Gas Project area in Chongqing and Sichuan, China. In the 2013-2014 school year, the Walk Wise project expanded from two pilot primary schools to 18 primary schools and one middle school in Kai County of Chongqing Province. The Walk Wise project seeks to improve the road safety environment for students and their communities by focusing on five key components:
The Walk Wise project celebrate China’s National Road Safety Day on December 2013
1. Road safety education in schools 2. Simple and effective road treatments 3. Public advocacy 4. Stakeholder engagement and capacity building 5. Research, monitoring, and evaluation
The project is tailored to the local road context and engages a variety of partners to encourage awareness and smart road user behavior throughout the community.
REPORTING PERIOD This report provides an overview of phase 2 of the Walk Wise project which was implemented from October 2013 to June 2014 in Kai County, Chongqing Province. 1. World Health Organization, Global Status Report on Road Safety 2013. 2. Ibid. 3. Social Resources Institute and Asia Injury Prevention Foundation, Kai County Traffic Safety Social Participation Research Report 2014.
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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT The Walk Wise project relies on the engagement of a broad network of local partners to achieve its goals and establish the community ownership necessary for long-term sustainability of the project. The following stakeholders were actively engaged in the Walk Wise project in the 2013-2014 year: • Chevron: Chevron provides sponsorship and ongoing support to the Walk Wise project. • School administration and teachers: School principals, administration, and teachers are involved throughout project planning and implementation. Their engagement and feedback ensures the success of the project.
Walk Wise schools in 2013-2014:
Baihe Street Primary School Dunhao Primary School Fengle Street Primary School Gaoqiao Middle School Gaoqiao Primary School Guojia Primary School Hanfeng No. 1 Primary School Hanfeng No. 2 Primary School Hanfeng No. 4 Primary School Longcha Primary School
Maliu Ludong Primary School Maliu Primary School Qili Primary School Shuitian Primary School Taoxi Primary School Wenpu Primary School Zhengba Primary School Zhendong Street Primary School Zishui Primary School
• Master Trainers: Four outstanding teachers and two polices trained as Master Trainers provide curriculum training and a source of knowledge and know-how to other teachers at the target schools. • Parents: Parents are critical in reinforcing the knowledge and skills taught in the classroom in their children. • Students: Students are the heart of the project and Walk Wise exists for their safety and wellbeing, and therefore their family’s and community’s wellbeing. • Kai County Education Committee: The Education Committee coordinates with schools to implement the Walk Wise curricula and provides support to all activities, including planning and implementation. • Kai County Traffic and Patrol Police Brigade: The police support educational activities in the schools and surrounding communities, including co-hosting public events and producing educational materials. • Kai County Coordination Office (KCCO): KCCO coordinates with relevant stakeholders at the county level to garner additional support and engagement in the project. They are active participants in all stakeholder meetings. • Kai County Working Committee for the Care of the Next Generation: This government organization attends all Walk Wise events and advocates for the project in communities. • Kai County Communist Youth League: The Youth League attends all Walk Wise events to demonstrate support and will co-implement community education programs in the future. • Kai County Women’s Union: The Women’s Union attends public events to demonstrate support of the Walk Wise project and will be involved in co-implementing community education programs in the future. • Township governments: Local government officials provide support on human resources, and assist with event planning and logistics in their respective townships. • Research institutes: These institutes gather valuable data to shape the Walk Wise project and measure the overall success of the project in promoting a safer road environment within the Walk Wise communities. • Technical consultants: Experts contribute to the project by providing technical support, including best practices for teacher trainings, curricula enhancement, and designs for road modifications. 3
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The Walk Wise Project
Representatives from Chevron join the second phase of the Walk Wise project launch in November 2013
Chevron
AIP Foundation
Research Institutes
Technical Consultants
Kai County Working Committee for the Care of the Next Generation
Kai County Education Committee
School administration
Master Trainers
Kai County Communist Youth League Kai County Women’s Union
Teachers
Students
Township governments
Parents
Stakeholder map: Local partners work together to promote road traffic safety throughout the community.
OUTPUTS In the 2013-2014 school year, the Walk Wise project expanded to reach 18 primary schools, one middle school, and the surrounding communities, providing road safety education to nearly 25,000 students and engaging almost 50,000 community members. Indicator
Phase 1 2012-2013
Phase 2 2013-2014
Phase 3 2014-2015
Phase 4 (Projected)
Phase 5 (Projected)
Number of students participating in the project
974
24,947
53,650
80,000
100,000
Number of teachers trained
26
242
548
914
1,214
Number of schools reached
2
19
38
60
80
Number of parents/community members engaged
2,000
49,894
107,300
120,000
160,000
Number of government institutions with enhanced capacity
9
29
36
50
60
The project implemented five key components designed to improve the traffic safety environment of vulnerable schools and communities in Kai County. These components serve to reinforce one another to achieve a greater, more sustainable impact. 5
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1. Road safety education • Comprehensive road safety curricula for grades 1-6 were implemented at all 18 primary schools, providing student handbooks to each student and teacher handbooks and teaching tools to all teachers. The content of each curriculum is tailored to the target age group, and focuses on major themes such as traffic signs, safe pedestrian behavior, and helmet use. “Previously, the school was in charge of providing safety education to children, but only general information was covered, and content on traffic safety was scarce. After the implementation of the Walk Wise project, classroom lessons on traffic safety have become more standardized and cover a broad range of useful skills for students. The curriculum offers logical, systematic, and thorough knowledge on traffic safety. The compilation is outstanding.” – Teacher from Wenpu Primary School • Traffic simulation corners were established on school grounds of all 18 primary schools where students can practice the skills they learn in the classroom in a realistic road environment. • Four outstanding teachers were trained to become Master Trainers this year. • Teacher’s trainings were conducted by Master Trainers for teachers from all 18 primary schools on how to integrate the curricula into the classroom, use the Walk Wise resources, and best reach students. • Walking School Buses, which promote safe routes to school, were organized at 10 project schools to help students travel safely to school and practice their pedestrian skills. • 25,000 reflective yellow caps were distributed to students to enhance student visibility as they walk to and from school each day.
Mr. Feng leads his students in a practice exercise where students role play a road traffic setting
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2. Road treatment • Road treatments were implemented at all 18 primary schools through a small-grant program. Each school designed the road treatment based on the needs of their school, and submitted a proposal for funding. The grant program required that the proposal include a plan for long-term maintenance of the treatment. ARRB Group, a trusted advisory agency, contributed technical expertise to develop a road treatment manual and provided training to the schools on how to assess their roads and implement effective changes to promote student safety. Treatments established at the schools included zebra crossings, speed bumps, and traffic signs. • Warning signs were established at high-risk spots along the roads of all 18 primary schools, telling drivers to “slow down for children!”
Gaoqiao Primary School
BEFORE
AFTER Hanfeng No.I Primary School
BEFORE
AFTER
3. Public advocacy • A launch event was held at the beginning of the year attended by Chevron, government officials, school administration, teachers, parents, and students to introduce the scale-up of the Walk Wise project and promote road safety in the communities. • A community-wide event celebrating China’s National Road Safety Day was organized on December 2nd, 2013 to generate awareness and enthusiasm about road safety and support national efforts. • International Road Safety Week was celebrated at Gaoqiao Middle School and kicked-off with a large public ceremony and educational games and booths for students and the whole community. • Road-safety themed community movie nights, hosted by the local police, were held in four townships, which served as a fun and engaging activity for families to learn about road safety together. 7
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4. Stakeholder engagement and capacity building • Stakeholder workshops were conducted regularly to gather input, feedback, and ideas from key partners including the KCCO, Police Brigade, Education Committee, Communist Youth League, Committee for the Care of the Next Generation, school administration, teachers, and parents. • Parent workshops, featuring an educational film, were organized to promote road safety awareness among parents and encourage knowledge transfer to their children. All 18 primary schools hosted workshops for their students’ parents. • The Kai County Police Brigade was provided support by the Walk Wise project to produce a short public film which documents crash cases and highlights dangerous and safe road behavior. The film was aired at the community movie nights. In addition, the Kai County Police sent an official document to each township in Kai County requesting that all the schools and transportation systems broadcast this film locally.
Government stakeholders meet to discuss their roles and responsibilities
Principals and safety directors from 18 project schools gather to discuss project planning and implementation
5. Research, monitoring, and evaluation Ongoing monitoring and evaluation was conducted during the year including quantitative surveys, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, and site observations to measure project effectiveness and reach.
Researchers interview students to evaluate the effectiveness of the project in changing student road user knowledge, attitude, and behavior
The Walk Wise Project
A researcher interviews the community leader of Fengle Township to discuss his perceptions of the project’s success
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OUTCOMES How has the Walk Wise project improved the road safety environment for children? Research results demonstrated positive changes in student attitude, knowledge, and behavior after students participated in the Walk Wise project in 2013-2014.
Student attitude Students feel safer traveling to and from school after participating in the Walk Wise project. At the end of the year, 68% of students stated that they feel safe on the way to school, compared to only 28% of students at the beginning of the year. Students who feel safe travelling to school 80%
68%
60% 40%
Percentage of students
28%
20% 0%
Baseline
Year-end
More students are willing to obey traffic laws and rules. In a survey, the number of students who find it “inconvenient” to obey traffic rules decreased from 27% to 12% by the end of 2013-2014 school year. Students who consider obeying traffic rules “inconvenient” 30%
27%
20% 12%
10% 0%
Baseline
Percentage of students
Year-end
In focus group discussions, many students demonstrated positive attitudes about road safety. In a student discussion at Hanfeng No.1 Primary School, one male student stated, “I have more knowledge, and I can recognize the traffic signs now. I find that I feel safer, and have a better sense of safety. Learning this information has taught me how to protect myself.”
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Another student stated, “Before Walk Wise I liked to run across the street as soon as the traffic light flashed green. I used to ride my bicycle on the wrong side of the road, and jump over the road railings. But now I don’t do that anymore because I know it is dangerous. My classmates have changed their perspectives too.”
Student knowledge Road safety knowledge significantly increased among students. The average score in the knowledge test increased from 49% of answers correct at the beginning of the school year to 74% of answers correct at the end of the school year.
Student knowledge change 74%
80% 60%
Mean percentage of correct answers on road safety knowledge test
49%
40% 20% 0%
Baseline
Year-end
Student behavior When observed, most students look left and right before they cross the road and walk steadily across instead of running, skills that are taught in the Walk Wise curriculum. In addition, a greater percentage of students reported regular helmet use when riding on their parent’s motorcycle after participating in the Walk Wise project. Reported student helmet use 60%
68% 39%
40%
27% 18%
20% 0%
Baseline
The Walk Wise Project
Always Sometimes
Year-end
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Ms. Qing leads her students in a road safety demonstration on the school yard
STORIES FROM THE FIELD Qing Zhou is a young teacher at Qili Primary School where she teaches math. She has been engaged in the Walk Wise project since it began in 2012. Due to her commitment to the project and strong teaching skills, Qing was asked by the Education Committee and AIP Foundation to serve as one of the Master Trainers of the Walk Wise project. As a Master Trainer, she is in charge of training other school teachers about how to use the Walk Wise curriculum in their own classrooms. Together with the other Master Trainers, Qing has trained nearly 150 road safety teachers in Kai County. This past year, Qing has become passionate about road safety and the importance of communicating safety skills and knowledge to children. In addition to the training she provides to other teachers, Qing has taken initiative to make the Walk Wise project more effective. For example, she recognized the need for a common platform for Master Trainers, road safety teachers, and
safety directors from across the schools to share their progress and experiences, so that they can learn from each other and support each other as they teach the curriculum throughout the year. Without the resources for frequent, in-person meetings, Qing built a communication forum through a local internet tool called “QQ.� Now, this QQ community consists of 88 members, including safety directors from each school, road safety teachers, Master Trainers, officials from the Education Committee, police, and AIP Foundation staff. To keep the forum active, moderators ensure that it is always up-to-date with information and regularly try different methods to engage members in discussion and provide comments on project activities. These members frequently use the platform to ask their questions related to project management, share files, photos, and tips, and network with each other to improve their lessons. This QQ forum has been a great asset to the Walk Wise project in Kai County.
Students participate in a road safety lesson from the Walk Wise curriculum taught by Ms. Qing
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Xiang Daodeng is the safety director of Hanfeng No. 1 Primary School, where he oversees the implementation of the Walk Wise curriculum in all the classrooms at his school. His school joined the Walk Wise project in November 2013. He feels that the project provides a great contribution to Hanfeng No. 1 Primary School and offers a special opportunity to improve the safety of his students. Because of this, he proposed to the principal that the school should integrate road safety lessons into annual performance appraisals of teachers. This would ensure that the lessons are taught consistently and incentivizes the road safety teachers to improve the quality of their lessons. His proposal was discussed by the management team of the school, and after some communication and feedback, he secured its integration into teacher performance appraisals. One indicator, for example, used to appraise the teachers is to measure the student wearing rate of the yellow reflective caps, because teachers can encourage and require students to wear these caps as they walk to and from school each day. This small policy change made an impressive impact on student use of the yellow caps. During the annual evaluation of the Walk Wise project, the evaluation team found that the wearing rate of reflective caps among students at Hangfeng No. 1 Primary School was the highest of all the project schools. In addition, the knowledge and behavior change of students at Hangfeng No. 1 Primary School was significant.
Mr. Xiang conducting a road safety lesson
“The Walk Wise project is a great chance for our schools to make our students safer and improve the way we communicate safety information and skills to students,” Xiang stated at a stakeholder meeting on October 9th, 2014. “I am grateful that Chevron and AIP Foundation brought this program to Kai County.” Xiang also encouraged other schools to implement policies to increase the impact of the project. To school representatives present at the meeting, he said, “The support of the principal and school administration is highly important to the success of the program. I suggest that safety directors of each school take the initiative to encourage principals to prioritize Walk Wise road safety activities and secure your principal’s support. Encourage your school to take road safety education seriously and integrate it into appraisals of teacher performance.” Xiang joined the Walk Wise project as a new Master Trainer in October 2014. As a Master Trainer, he has provided many useful suggestions to improve teacher training, as well as project management as a whole.
Mr. Xiang leads his students in a road safety demonstration
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Traffic simulation corners were established on the school yard of 18 primary schools for students to practice the road safety skills they learn in the classroom
UPCOMING IN 2014-2015 AND BEYOND • In the 2014-2015 school year, The Walk Wise project will expand to reach 38 schools throughout Kai County, providing road safety education to 53,650 students and their surrounding communities. • The Walk Wise project will pilot an E-learning curriculum at two primary schools, which will serve to make road safety education more fun and interactive for students. • By 2017, The Walk Wise project is expected to reach 100,000 students in the CDB Gas Project area.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to Chevron for the generous sponsorship of the Walk Wise project and to ARRB Group; the Kai County Education Committee; Kai County Coordination Office (KCCO); Kai County Traffic and Patrol Police Brigade; Kai County Working Committee for the Care of the Next Generation; Kai County Communist Youth League; Kai County Women’s Union; township governments; school principals, administration, teachers, parents, and students; Social Resources Institute; and technical consultants for your engagement and support.
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ASIA INJURY PREVENTION FOUNDATION China Room 3-5-4 Yulin Yuan, Fanghua Road Wuhou District, 610041, Chengdu, China Tel: (86) 156 8073 1773 info@aipf-china.org
Headquarters 12B Ngoc Khanh Street Ba Dinh District, Hanoi, Vietnam Tel: (84-4) 3771 0700 info@aipf-vietnam.org
www.asiainjury.org
Published December 2014