Driving competence
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Mon, 02 Mar 2020 16:15:34 +0000
PART II
THE “paid training” for would-be drivers is seen by many as an anti-poor policy of the LTO. The training provision of LTO, through its planned driving schools of its own, is not free. While LTO is designing these schools to charge lower than their private counterparts, it will still entail costs to applicants of driver’s license.
Shouldn’t the LTO offer a “socialized” fee scheme for its driving schools? Those who belong to the economically-challenged class should be given “full scholarship.” The training provided by LTO should be a service and not a revenue-generation tool for the government.
While a driver’s license is a privilege and not a right (like education), a genuine licensing system for drivers in our country has direct link to many genuine interests of the public.
Should LTO proceed with the operations of its own driving schools, there should also be mechanisms that would ensure that the same offer “quality” training to would-be drivers.
The quality of training not only of LTO driving schools but also of private driving schools and TESDA-trained drivers authorized to train applicants of driver’s license is best measured through an effective driver competence evaluation.
What reforms does LTO have on the evaluation aspect of drivers’ competence?
Without addressing the problems in the current system, which includes corruption, the new training rules of LTO will simply be an additional opportunity for corruption and will perpetuate the unsafe state of our roads, particularly caused by incompetent drivers.
It is common knowledge, for example, that answer keys to LTO written examinations are “for sale.” Will LTO introduce interventions that will prevent corrupt LTO personnel from selling answers to the examinations?
The practical examination requirement in securing a driver’s license has also been “for sale” as with financial consideration, no actual evaluation of driving skills is being done yet a passing mark for the examination is secured. Will LTO also introduce system interventions to prevent this from happening?
If corrupt p
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