News item | 25-05-2022 | 13:47
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (IenW) has developed a number of measures to ensure that the quality of driving education improves and abuses in the sector are combated. The measures are an elaboration of the advice ‘From driving lessons to driving education’ that Mr Roemer presented to the Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment on 14 April 2021.
The reason for the advice requested from Mr. Roemer was a number of problems in the driving school sector, such as abuses due to a (too) great dependence of a student on one driving instructor and insufficient incentives aimed at good education, but at the highest possible yield. This results in relatively low average success rates at the CBR, of which the student suffers the negative consequences. The advice makes recommendations to improve the quality of driving education, the quality of the driving test, the quality of driving schools and the quality of driving instructors.
Minister Harbers:
“The major step we are taking in implementing the advice is that we are now also going to set requirements for the quality of driving education and the performance of driving schools. With this we want to achieve that the quality of driving education improves, the student is better protected and the pass rate of practical exams is higher. I would like to emphasize here that the measures have been established through constructive cooperation with the driving school sector, the Central Bureau for Driving Proofs (CBR), the institute for certification and examination in the mobility sector (IBKI) and many others. I hope that we can also constructively continue the implementation phase.”
Measures
One of the measures is to draw up the curriculum for pupils who want to obtain a B driving licence. This may include testing by another driving instructor before you sit for the driving test. In addition, the CBR has been asked to develop new exam requirements and the IBKI to adapt the training for driving instructors. In addition, the CBR has been asked to develop a plan that will link consequences to the success rate of driving schools.
pilots
Prior to implementation, the measures are first tested by means of pilots. For example, there is a pilot ‘collegiate advice’, in collaboration with the CBR and representatives from the driving school sector. Ten driving schools in Zeeland are participating in this. The aim of the pilot is to gain insight into the experiences of testing by fellow driving instructors before a student takes the driving test. In doing so, the focus is on giving a judgment by a fellow instructor whether a student is ready to take a practical exam at the CBR. The pilot will run until the summer.
The government is aware that almost all recommendations have consequences for driving schools, driving instructors, consumers and implementing organizations, and that in many cases legislation and regulations must be amended. In order to keep the steps to be taken manageable for all those involved, the government has opted to introduce the measures from the advice step by step. Priority is given to tackling abuses and increasing the quality of driving education. In addition, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management will remain in dialogue with the sector, the CBR and the IBKI in order to achieve a good implementation together.