Lessons to be based more on practice than theory, while driving exams will become stricter
Courses on driving lessons will become more practical rather than theoretical while driving exams will become stricter with the introduction of amendments by the Ministry of Education to a recently released draft regulation.
The Ministry of Education completed a draft bill with various amendments to the “Motorlu Taşıtlar Sürücü Kursları Yönetmeliği” (Regulation on motor vehicles and driving courses) and released the draft regulation on its official website on March 28 to receive ideas and feedback from the public regarding the draft.
The draft includes some major amendments to the existing regulation, which has not been changed at all since it came into effect 26 years ago. According to the draft, drivers’ training at driving schools will be based more on practical knowledge rather than theoretical knowledge. In other words, the number of hours spent on theory will decrease while more hours will be spent on driving lessons during the process of acquiring a driving license at driving schools. According to the draft, the duration for theoretical lessons will decrease by 30 or 40 percent. The draft also says that driving simulators for training can be used instead of training tracks. Student drivers will be able to take practical driving lessons easily thanks to driving simulators. Under the current regulation, driving schools are obligated to have training tracks of at least 10 square meters, which has been harshly criticized by driving schools. This obligation for training tracks will be removed with the new draft; schools will be able to give driving lessons either at training tracks or via simulators.
Under the current regulation, half of all driving lessons have to be done at training tracks while the other half in normal traffic. However, with the new draft law, the entire driving lessons will have to be done in traffic. Furthermore, training durations will also be reduced in the draft regulation. Currently, the hours allocated for lessons on traffic and environmental information are between 20 and 35 hours, but under the new draft bill, the hours allocated for lessons will be reduced to 16 hours. The duration of first aid training will also be decreased from 12 hours to eight with the new draft.
According to the draft regulation, prospective drivers who have only completed primary school will also get a chance to obtain a driver’s training license, which is impossible under the current regulation. The draft also makes the driving exams much stricter. According to an amendment in the draft regulation, student drivers who fail any of the 20 driving criteria will not be able to pass the exam.
There are 3,321 driving schools in Turkey. Most have complained about the regulation since it came into effect in 1987, but governments have never made any changes to the regulation.
The Ministry of Education set to work on possible amendments to the regulation eight months ago. Driving class managers, traffic experts and the public will be able to examine the draft that is posted on the ministry’s website and send their ideas and suggestions regarding the draft to the ministry via e-mail until April 1, 5 p.m. After assessing the ideas and suggestions, the ministry will then prepare a final draft.
World Bulletin/News Desk