TRANSPORT leaders in Edinburgh have been accused of using "propaganda" tactics to promote the controversial trams project to primary pupils via a £10,000 baseball caps giveaway.
Pupils are also being given activity packs which describe the trams as "exciting" and encourage them to become "tramformers" and be able to promote the scheme to their fellow pupils after visiting construction sites.
Officials at the city counci
l and its tram company have joined forces to run special tram classes and assemblies at schools along the route of the £545 million network.
Pupils are given a history lesson about the city's old trams, their withdrawal from service in the 1950s and planned introduction in 2011. They are also warned of the dangers of playing on or near construction sites.
Among the key messages in material obtained by The Scotsman are that "cars and buses give out smelly fumes which are bad for the environment". A picture of a dangerously overcrowded bus in the sub-continent is used to illustrate the need for trams to be introduced in Edinburgh.
Around 5,000 baseball caps carrying the Edinburgh Trams logo, costing £2 each, have been ordered by the city council and TIE – the council's tram firm – for the giveaway, which has been defended on the grounds that it would help pupils develop more interest in the trams.
Although it has been left to the discretion of headteachers as to whether the "tram classes" are allowed, it is understood most have been given the green light.
Mike Connelly, stakeholder manager with TIE, said: "We are basically running classes in schools along the tram route, mainly about enforcing safety messages, but also explaining a bit about the tram project.
"They are mainly for primary five and six pupils, although we are also going back to schools to give them short presentations on the trams, explaining why they are being introduced and what they will look like.
"We're doing this along the likes of the old Tufty Club which promoted road safety. We know kids like to wear baseball caps and we've been giving them away to try to get them interested. None of these classes are happening without the approval of headteachers, and all the material has been approved for use by the council."
But the council's deputy leader, SNP councillor Steve Cardownie, whose party opposes the trams, said: "It does smack of a propaganda exercise.
"It's a bit of a cynical way to try to get through to these youngsters. The tram people obviously think they will be able to promote the virtues of the scheme if they have children running about wearing these caps."
Debbie Douglas, whose daughter Shannon attends Royal Mile Primary, said: "This is child exploitation. These pupils are being used as cheap advertising fodder to try to promote the trams. I couldn't believe this when I heard about it."
Gordon Mackenzie, the council's transport leader, said: "In order to reinforce educational, environmental and safety messages about the tram it is entirely appropriate to spend a modest amount of money promoting the project.
"It's a really good idea to present health and safety material about worksites to our children, as well as presenting them with information about one of the biggest projects being delivered in Edinburgh today."
