Competition “I learn to live safely”

Today, in the main building of the University of Wrocław, the final of the „Uczę się bezpiecznie żyć” (“I learn how to live safely”) competition organised by the Association of Polish Communities of the Nisa Euroregion takes place. A professional jury, representatives of the Police, Municipal Police, MPK, State Forests and other institutions, evaluate whether children from primary schools, the finalists of the competition, are able to provide first aid, protect the environment, and whether they have practical skills and habits that will help them live more safely. The competition was officially opened by the rector of the University of Wrocław, prof. Robert Olkiewicz, who welcomed all the participants, the organisers and the competition jury.

The competition was established 18 years ago, in 2004, as an initiative of the Association of Polish Communities of the Euroregion Neisse. Further editions were held in 2005 and 2006. In 2006, the Euroregion Nysa initiative was combined with the activities of the Wrocław Board of Education, and was renamed “I learn to live safely”. The project has covered the whole of Lower Silesia and is now addressed to all students in grades “0”, I-III, IV-VI and VII-VIII. Since 2009, the Rector of the University of Wrocław has chaired the programme team for this competition. This year, once again, the final of this competition is being held in the main building of the University of Wrocław. It is the largest event of its kind in Lower Silesia and one of the largest in Poland.

The main objective of the competition is to raise awareness of the environmental safety culture of natural and legal entities in a sustainable development setting. In addition, it also aims to equip children with practical skills and habits related to everyday safety, first aid, environmental protection, behaviour on the road, at school, at home, in the forest, meeting strangers and animals. The competition incorporates a wide variety of topics that a child encounters in today’s world.

-During the final at the University today, we host the finalists, winners of the preliminaries in Jelenia Góra, Wałbrzych, Legnica and Wrocław. 120 kids from 48 educational institutions. As many as 300 schools took part in all stages of the competition, with 40,000 participants. This is the largest event of its kind in Lower Silesia and one of the largest in Poland,” says Mr. Maciej Gałęski, chairman of the organising committee of the competition.

The youngest children compete in teams of three, while children in grades VII-VIII compete individually. Specially prepared stations located in the corridors of the University’s main building and in front of the building, next to the fountain with the Swordsman, await the participants of our competition, where they will perform tasks. For example, they will have to deal with a road accident involving a tanker truck – we will check whether the children will be able to call the emergency services in an appropriate manner so as to limit environmental pollution; there is an MPK bus in front of the building, where MPK employees will check whether the children know how to get on and off the bus safely, how to behave in the presence of a disabled person, how to transport animals or larger luggage. There are also, of course, stations where paramedics test first aid or wound treatment skills.

-What’s most important – the competition is becoming popular and we have really committed participants and, above all, teachers who prepare children to take part in our competition. They all deserve huge congratulations,” says Maciej Gałęski.

ed. Agata Mitek