At least 360 students were killed and 109 others injured in 320 road accidents across Bangladesh between January and June this year, according to Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity (Passengers' Welfare Association).
The organization's Secretary General, Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, disclosed the figures in a statement issued on Saturday to mark the 15th anniversary of the Mirsarai tragedy.
He said greater road safety awareness among students could help build safer roads and a more disciplined nation.
According to Mozammel, the absence of regular road safety awareness programs involving students, teachers, and guardians has allowed tragedies similar to the Mirsarai accident to continue, with hundreds of students killed, injured, or permanently disabled in road crashes every year.
Citing the association's month-wise data, he said January recorded 57 road accidents that killed 57 students and injured 22 others. February saw 39 accidents, leaving 47 students dead and 11 injured.
March was the deadliest month, with 59 accidents claiming 67 student lives, while only one injury was reported. April recorded 51 accidents, killing 56 students and injuring 25. May had the highest number of accidents—61—which left 73 students dead and 23 injured. In June, 53 accidents killed 60 students and injured 27 others.
Recalling the 2011 Mirsarai tragedy, Mozammel said a mini-truck carrying students from several schools in Mirsarai upazila of Chittagong lost control and plunged into a roadside ditch on July 11 that year, killing 45 people, most of them students, in what remains the country's deadliest single road accident.
He alleged that the government has not undertaken any nationwide student road safety awareness program since the tragedy. As a result, he said, awareness among students and guardians remains inadequate, and young lives continue to be lost on the country's roads.
To prevent further deaths, Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity proposed a five-point set of recommendations.
These include incorporating road safety awareness into school textbooks and holding at least one hour-long road safety session every month for students, led by road safety experts.
The organization also called for zebra crossings at every road-crossing point on national and regional highways, particularly near educational institutions, along with proper school zone signboards.
It further recommended deploying trained road safety guards wearing reflective vests and carrying red flags to stop traffic and help students cross highways safely near schools located along national and regional roads. It also urged every educational institution to form a road safety committee comprising teachers and students.