A section of the students and officials
Student ambassadors under the VIA Safe Mobility for All Young People Programme have identified a number of road safety hazards threatening the safety of pupils and students on their journeys to and from school.
The hazards were identified during a “Discovery Walk” conducted by the ambassadors as part of efforts to promote safer mobility for young people.
The programme, an initiative of the TotalEnergies Foundation, is being implemented in Ghana by the Oli Best Road Safety Organisation with support from TotalEnergies Marketing Ghana PLC.
The Discovery Walk involved student ambassadors assessing their school environments and surrounding communities to identify conditions that could endanger their safety and mobility.
The exercise, conducted across participating schools in the Eastern, Ashanti and Bono regions, exposed several challenges, including unsafe school surroundings, reckless driving, inadequate road infrastructure and signage, and poorly organised traffic and pedestrian environments.
The students also identified risks peculiar to their respective schools and communities.
Following the exercise, the participating schools are expected to develop action plans and undertake awareness-creation activities to address the identified hazards, as well as promote safer mobility within their communities.
The programme is expected to end with a final event in November 2026, where the participating schools will present proposals containing practical solutions to the road safety challenges identified during the Discovery Walk.
The VIA Safe Mobility for All Young People Programme is a global initiative of the TotalEnergies Foundation aimed at reducing road-related injuries and fatalities among young people, who are considered one of the most vulnerable groups of road users.
Since its inception in 2019, the programme has promoted safer school journeys in more than 2,000 schools across 45 countries by empowering young people to serve as road safety ambassadors through practical and context-based education.
Eight schools are participating in the maiden edition of the programme in Ghana.
They are Nana Kwaku Boateng M/A Basic “A” School in Koforidua; Church of Christ Senior High School; Prempeh College; Kumasi Academy Senior High School; Amakom SDA JHS; KNUST Senior High School, all in Kumasi; Sacred Heart Senior High School; and Sunyani Senior High School in Sunyani.
The programme was officially launched in Ghana in May 2026, bringing together stakeholders and representatives from the education, emergency response and road safety sectors.
The initiative seeks to empower young people to identify road safety challenges in their communities and play an active role in finding practical solutions to make school journeys safer.
FROM David Afum, Kumasi