Have you fancied being a traffic cop for a few hours? That is what students of Sri Chaitanya Techno School at Norton Road in Mandaveli got to experience last year as the institute enrolled for the National Road Safety Mission for Schools, a pan-India initiative to nudge schools to implement structured road safety programmes that are aimed at reducing road accidents and fatalities through education, awareness and responsible action.

“We wanted to give students a first-hand experience of how the traffic police work and the challenges they face regulating traffic on the road, so we collaborated with the police department and 30 students were given a demonstration.

Later, three students played traffic cop for a couple of hours on the busy road,” says Sunitha R, principal, Sri Chaitanya Techno School.

The school is among the Olympiad winners that bagged the National Road Safety Education Excellence Awards 2025–26. The National Road Safety Mission aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.6 and includes school zone safety audits, structured K–12 learning modules and a rating framework to assess and improve safety conditions around schools.

In Tamil Nadu, 134 schools took part in the initiative, with five institutions receiving awards and 69 students recognised as Olympiad winners, says a press note.

The principal says the outdoor activity with the police was a big draw among students and many were encouraged to make some difference, starting from their parents on following road discipline.

Through the ‘Smart Living Programme’ that the school conducts, it plans to conduct a new activity every month.

“We will be doing more road safety activities the coming academic year as well,” says Sunitha.

Other initiatives

From road rally to mass pledges, the school got more than 100 students to appear for a road safety course conducted by National Road Safety Mission (NRSM) for six weeks in January 2026. Rohit S. of Class VIII achieved third rank at the national level road safety olympiad.