Teaching kids to drive in school!
Porsche Al Nabooda and Muhammed Ben Sulayem teaching children about road safety
By Shahzad Sheikh
The Porsche Kids Driving School from Al Nabooda, Porsche Centre Dubai, has been out and about to eight Dubai schools in the last couple of months to help raise kids’ awareness of road rules, traffic signs and safety. The programme is aimed at five-to-eight year olds.
“The children will, without doubt, become more aware of the possible dangers on the roads, as well as understanding more about the rules of the road and what particular signs mean,” said Chris McDermott, Principal and CEO at Jumeirah Primary School.
“It’s an excellent idea, an extremely worthwhile initiative, as well as being lots of fun for the children. They really enjoyed it. They learnt a lot and really seemed very enthusiastic.”
FIA Vice President Mohammed Ben Sulayem took part in the programme at the Dubai National School in Al Barsha.
Omar Abo Lael, the school’s Head of Department for Activities, said: “It was a new experience for the kids, and they all got the chance to learn about different safety aspects on the roads, such as traffic signals and different safety elements of driving.
“The idea is fantastic. Because it was so different and new for them, the children really absorbed all the information and were quite fascinated about the whole course.
The kids are taught about how to use a pedestrian crossing and what to do at traffic lights as well as the importance of seat belts. They also get to learn road driving rules by actually driving Porsche pedal cars on a simulated road network.
And as a brilliant momento they get their first driver’s licence. A few weeks later the teachers test to see what they remember about the day.
Vijay Rao, General Manager at Porsche Centre Dubai, said: “We have had a tremendously encouraging response all round, from school heads and teachers, from the children, and from parents.
“The Porsche Kids Driving School will be visiting more schools in Dubai and the Northern Emirates over the coming months, and depending on feedback and evaluation of test results, we hope that the programme can be developed into a long term initiative.“
“It is one of our corporate social responsibility initiatives and the ultimate goal of the programme is to make better drivers for tomorrow. So we will be working hard to develop it and enhance its effectiveness so that it has an increasingly positive effect on more and more schoolchildren.“
You are doing good job.