DLT calls on IT to raise driving schools standards
The Department of Land Transport is aiming to improve standards in the country’s driving schools by introducing modern technology such as fingerprint scanners, e-classrooms and CCTV.
There are 275 DLT-certified driving schools in 66 provinces nationwide. Privately operated, they are given DLT quality guidelines which they must follow to maintain the level of their training and testing procedures.
“With the help of modern technology, we can upgrade the quality of driving schools even further,” said DLT director-general Peerapol Thawornsupcharoen. “We have installed fingerprint scanners at selected driving schools to verify the identity of both teachers and students before each classroom and testing session.”
The fingerprint scanners will be used in conjunction with the e-classroom system, in which the department can monitor and verify the date, time, subject, teachers and students to make sure that the training schedule and quality standard are adhered to. Furthermore, each written exam room will be equipped with CCTV cameras to monitor the test takers and prevent cheating.
A 40-year-old Thai office worker, who asked not to be named, said that she had obtained both car and motorcycle licences by taking such courses at a certified driving school in Chiang Mai’s Saraphi district.
“I welcome the Department of Land Transport’s plan to ensure good quality at driving schools as some might not be up to par.
“From my own experience, however, such courses are already being conducted in a strict way with a finger-scanning system to ensure the number of training hours, e-classrooms to teach about traffic rules and the test-taking procedure plus the actual driving/riding training,” she said.
”You cannot cheat because there are also CCTV cameras in the examination room and the school will turn you down if you fail it.
“I also saw people being turned down after failing the eyesight test as they turned out to be colour-blind, while some friends who failed the written test were asked to reset it three days later as per the rules.
”The courses at driving schools are useful and very convenient for a speedy application for driver’s licence and what I learned has made me more aware of the traffic laws while I am driving car or riding a motorcycle.”
From October 2018 to June 2019, 454,691 people have enrolled at DLT certified driving schools; 277,329 of them took car driving lessons, 170,459 took motorcycling lessons, while 6,903 applied for land transport vehicle lessons.
You can check out the full list of DLT-certified driving schools plus details of how to apply at https://www.dlt.go.th/site/ltsb/ or phone 02-271-8623.
