Star Rating for Schools: Paving the Way for Safer School Journeys

Image Credit: ACM

The Star Rating for Schools (SR4S) programme continues to create heart-warming and inspirational stories of school journeys being made safer across the world.

As of June 2024, SR4S partners have assessed 1,638 schools in 74 countries, positively impacting the safety of approximately 426,796 students.

The programme’s global reach expanded with first-time assessments in Armenia (assessing 40 schools), Bolivia, Haiti, and Madagascar. Notably, Vietnam leads the world with the highest number of schools assessed (244), followed by the Philippines (234 schools assessed, adding an additional 109 schools in the last 6 months), and India (117). Beyond the sheer number of assessments, the FIA Road Safety Grant Programme has successfully upgraded the infrastructure of 9 schools across 5 countries in the first half of 2024.

Additionally, the Youth Engagement App (YEA), developed as part of the Botnar Ai&Me project, has proven invaluable in capturing youth perspectives on school safety risks. With over 3,000 YEA users, the app has provided crucial qualitative data to complement SR4S results and has undergone significant functional upgrades to enhance user experience. Moreover, the outcomes of the Ai&Me project and a recently published Scalability Report are informing the feasibility of the Ai&Me digital framework for application in other countries.

To cater to a wider audience, SR4S and YEA are now available in multiple languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Bahasa Indonesia, and Vietnamese. This linguistic diversity enables the tools to be adapted to various cultural and linguistic contexts, increasing their accessibility and effectiveness.

Another significant milestone is the USD$2 million Google.org grant awarded to iRAP. This funding allows iRAP to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI), SR4S, and AiRAP partnerships to scale up 3-star or better school journeys in Vietnam and the world.

Projects utilizing SR4S and YEA have also been accepted for presentation at prestigious conferences like Walk21 Portugal, World Safety 2024, and the IRF World Congress 2024. These recognitions highlight the crucial role SR4S and YEA play in advancing global road safety efforts.

The success of the SR4S programme wouldn’t be possible without the unwavering support of its key sponsors and partners. FedEx, as the founding sponsor, and FIA Foundation, as a major donor, have been instrumental in driving the programme’s growth. 3M and Prudence Foundation have made significant contributions as Global Programme Partners. The SR4S Lead Partners are world-leading NGO’s involved in school road safety that have supported SR4S’s development. Their initiatives can help organisations interested in improving the safety of children and ultimately delivering 5-star pedestrian journeys to, from and around schools. Furthermore, the project partners, Fondation Botnar, Google.org, and Millennium Challenge Corporation have provided invaluable support.

Looking ahead, the SR4S programme, through its innovative approach, global partnerships, and technological advancements, is poised to continue making a lasting impact on the safety and well-being of children around the globe.

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