It is sad but true that Sri Lankans go through torture in order to obtain a driving licence. True, the procedure should be stringent and appropriate, but learners who are striving to get a licence should be treated properly.
Certain driving instructors have no manners whatsoever. They do not know how to speak to females. They use coarse language and the result is that the females stop going for driving classes.
Some instructors even blast learners as if they intentionally made mistakes on the road. They forget that these are learners. Don’t they know that every expert was once a learner?
We have also heard that certain instructors even physically assault – slapping and striking – male learner drivers, especially young men.
We all know the driving instructors are under stress because of the conditions on our roads, but they should remember to treat their pupils decently. Well-behaved students will not get into arguments with their instructors.
On the day of the written test, some examiners refuse to give out the examination paper in English, assuming that all candidates are either Sinhala or Tamil-speaking. Don’t they know that there are thousands in this country who study in English?
And then on the day of the trial run, some examiners seem to have no intention of passing the candidates. They only want to find fault and fail learners. And if the exam candidate is performing well on the road, the examiner will start to make negative comments in the hope of unnerving the learner so he or she will make a driving mistake.
I know all this because I myself have been through the experience described above.
It is high time this nonsense ended.
Dilangi Perera,
Ja-Ela |
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