Dubai: If you feel you were dealt with unfairly by your examiner or your instructor during your quest to obtain a driving licence in Dubai, fret not as the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) wants to hear from you.
The Driver Training and Qualification Department at the RTA Licensing Agency has launched a new initiative called “Afedna” (Arabic for “Advise us”), which aims to compile constructive opinions of those who have recently obtained their driving licenses.
The survey is aimed at gathering feedback from previous students from all driving schools with the purpose of reviewing and improving the curriculum, level of service and performance of all agencies.
“The main objective is to give students the freedom to express their opinion without fear that his opinion might backfire on him,” Hussain Al Saffar, Director of Driver Training and Qualification at the RTA, told Gulf News.
“We constantly seek to lay down development initiatives and plans that aim to promote and develop the driving schools in Dubai at the highest international standards in this field.”
The questionnaire, which is in both Arabic and English, is consistent with the vision of the Licensing Agency which aims to produce “safe drivers, safe vehicles and internationally high standard services”.
Al Saffar said the questionnaire covers four points in general: the curriculum, the services provided by the driving school, the rights and responsibilities of both students and the driving school and the performance of the RTA examiners.
Al Saffar said the questions are practical in that they will explore the efficiency of the curriculum and its implementation, how satisfactory the driving schools’ services were and if the student got value for his money and was not charged extra fees.
Fairness
Regarding the RTA examiners, Al Saffar said questions will centre on the examiner’s fairness and if they adhered to the minimum examination time of around 15 minutes.
“This survey will be used as a tool to measure the efficiency of our methodologies in order to improve our policies if there is a need for it,” Al Saffar said.
A similar survey was conducted last year where 600 newly licensed drivers gave their feedback. Based on the results, Al Saffar said they reviewed and presented them to people at the driving schools to give them a chance to improve under close monitoring.
Among the issues raised were adjusting the training timings and the use of emergency brakes. Al Saffar said his office is already looking into this.
As for the examiners who are RTA employees, Al Saffar said his department will share the feedback with them and give them a chance to improve. If the need arises, another RTA evaluator will be present during road examinations to evaluate the examiner.
