Dubai: Catering to the demands of the multilingual population of Dubai, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is offering mandatory lectures and knowledge test that are required to obtain a driving licence in seven more languages from September.
Aspiring drivers will have a choice of Chinese, Russian, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Bengali and Persian languages for both theory tests as well as eight mandatory lectures.
The computer-based knowledge test, which needs to be passed by every candidate before moving on to the practical driving classes, is currently available in English, Arabic and Urdu, along with an additional voice-over translation in Pushto.
From September, the 30-minute test will be available in 11 languages, including the text on screen and the voice over.
“We will be having text on screen as well as voice over in 11 languages, which the candidate can listen to through headphones. In case a person cannot read, a voice will read out the questions and then the candidate can choose the correct answer from multiple options available,” said Arif Al Malek, Director of Drivers Training and Qualifications at RTA’s Licensing Agency.
He added that the candidate should specify the language of his choice for lectures and tests when completing the application for driver’s training.
“We already have lectures in some of these languages, but we will be upgrading our system soon to conduct the lectures in a more organised manner so that every candidate has thorough knowledge of what it takes to drive on roads. For this we will ensure candidates are taught in the language of their choice,” he explained.
Though the theory tests will be available across all driving schools, not all schools may have lecture facilities in all the languages immediately. Hence, Al Malek urged candidates to ask the schools about the languages available before signing in.
Driving schools in Dubai welcomed the move to introduce new languages.
A spokesperson from the Emirates Driving Institute said the school is ready to implement this decision. “We have multilingual specialists who cater to all kinds of student requirements. We get lot of requests for theory test translation in multiple languages. On a number of occasions, we have conducted theory test translation in Chinese, Russian, Persian, and Malayalam upon special requests by students. However, it will be even better if RTA introduces the tests in these languages,” said P.M. Abdul Razzak, Assistant Manager-ITC, Emirates Driving Institute.
Toufiq Siryani, General Manager of Drive Dubai, said: “As an institute we are prepared to implement the new language requirements. We keep getting these requests for different languages and it is good that RTA is incorporating these popular languages for theory tests and classes.”
Dubai has six authorised driving schools — Emirates Driving Institute, Belhasa Driving Centre, Al Ahli Driving Centre, Dubai Driving Centre, Galadari Motor Driving School and Drive Dubai.
