It can be viewed as a welcome two-way street arrangement. Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority’s (RTA) decision to attract feedback from people who have recently obtained their driving licences on driving school instructors, methods of training and RTA examiners’ approach is extremely progressive.
The initiative, called Afedna (Arabic for Advise Us), has been launched by the Driver Training and Qualification Department in Arabic and English and ticks all the boxes by focusing on all aspects of an individual’s experience with a driving school — fairness of training, quality of curriculum, its implementation, services of the driving school, quality and professionalism of RTA examiners, fee structure and its value for money.
A similar survey was conducted last year and its results used to refine methods across driving schools in Dubai. The seriousness of this endeavour can be gauged by the fact that if results of the survey so demand, RTA will employ an additional RTA evaluator to assess the examiner during road tests. There can be no greater indicator than this of RTA’s goal of producing safe drivers and safe vehicles to match international standards.
