Does your driving instructor have a licence?

It was not just an everyday old car, the white Toyota corona had a metal headpiece on its roof. In yellow, it said 'Dhaka Motors' and in blue, two phone numbers were written on the metal headpiece. 

A young man, sitting on a plastic chair by the car, looked up at me and asked, "Want to learn driving madam?" 

His name is Khan Salim (not his real name), and he said he has been giving driving lessons for the last seven years in Rajarbagh. "Do you have an instructor's licence?" To this question, Khan Salim fell silent in response. 

On that quiet rain-soaked evening, the white Toyota corona, at first, seemed like a lone driving school on wheels. But moving forward along the footpath, a row of 20 to 25 old cars with metal boards on their roofs came into view.  

Khan Motors, Sohag Driving, Arif Motors - numerous names and logos - as if it was a driving school lane, waiting for customers to emerge to learn car driving. "This open-air driving school lane in Rajarbagh is almost 30 years old," Khan Salim and other instructors said. 

In this open-air driving school, you can learn basic driving lessons. "We are here every day from 9 am to 7 pm," touted Khan Salim. 

"Before it was my uncle who used to run this business, later he taught me driving," said Khan Salim, who now runs the business. Many are second-generation instructors, taking up their father or uncle's business, young and without an instructor or heavy-car driving licence. 

In fact, these are not registered driving schools.  

"Attaining a heavy-car driving licence takes 6-10 years. I cannot wait that long to start earning. So I give driving instructions to earn," Khan Salim said. Once he has the licence and the money, 25-year-old Khan Salim hopes to open his own driving school and rent-a-car business. 

This is true, one must have a professional heavy driving licence to obtain an instructor's licence,. And it is a long commitment to reach that point. Eligibility starts with a minimum of 6-10 years of driving experience. 

Representational image. Photo: Noor-A-Alam

But then how do instructors like Khan Salim and other such unregistered driving learning institutions operate? To get an answer, TBS contacted Sk. Md. Mahbub-E-Rabbani, Director of Road Safety, BRTA on 6 October when he said he would call back in an hour. However, after multiple attempts Sk. Md. Mahbub-E-Rabbani could not be reached.

Fact Box 

• There are 5 types of driving licences in Bangladesh: Learner licence, Non-professional licence, Professional licence, Public Service Vehicle licence and  Instructor licence.

• The professional licence includes lightweight  (vehicle weight below 2,500kg), medium weight (motor vehicle weight 2,500 to 6,500kg) and heavyweight  (motor vehicle weight of more than 6,500 kg)/

How many unregistered driving schools are there? 

According to BRTA ((Bangladesh Road Transport Authority) website, there are 147 registered driving learning centres in Bangladesh, among which 89 are in Dhaka. 

In 2012, Brac's monitoring department carried out a survey about the state of driving schools and driving instructors in the country. And found that there were 362 driving schools. This means, apart from the 147 registered driving schools, more than 190 institutions are unregistered. 

Also, the survey revealed that there were 418 driving instructors in Bangladesh in 2012. Of these instructors, less than 108 had a legally required instructor's licence. 

To be a driving instructor, one needs an instructor's licence for which s/he needs a professional heavy transport driving licence. According to the rulebook of BRTA, it's a minimum six-year process from getting a learner's licence to a professional lightweight licence to professional heavyweight licence to finally an instructor's licence. 

Apart from this kind of 'retail' market of driving schools, the capital is well-equipped with proper driving institutions. 

Macadam driving school at Dhanmondi was the oldest among them, but they are temporarily closed for now. Pathway, Uttarbanga driving school, Dhaka Driving School, Asia driving school, BRTC central training institute etc are some of the prominent names. 

Customised for lessons 

Have you ever seen a car with two brakes? Here in the driving school alley, you will find one. One brake is beneath the driver's seat and the other one is beneath the seat beside the driver's. 

"The learners often goof up with the accelerator, brake and gear. Juggling three things, controlling the car using both hands and legs- can be quite overwhelming for someone new. So to avoid any such casualties, we customise the car this way," Md. Hasib, manager of Dhaka Driving School said. 

They use a pipe through which the brake lines are stretched to the other front seat. "It doesn't take much effort and also these cars are supposed to be battered, so experimenting with our cars doesn't frighten us," Khan Salim said with a big smile on his face. 

Registered vs unregistered driving schools 

Driving instructors like Khan Salim offers lessons at a price of Tk6,000 a month, but one can bargain, of course, down to Tk4,000. At this price, the basics of driving can be learned. Additionally, these instructors prefer auto-gear cars rather than manual-geared ones. 

Photo: Noor-A-Alam

But registered driving schools have a number of packages that include practical classes and theory classes. The prices vary on the packages and also the type of gear. 

The packages start at a minimum of Tk6,000, which will provide five practical classes and three theory classes. The package price can go up to a maximum of Tk 10,000, which will provide give 25 practical classes and five theory classes.    

On the other hand, motorcycle packages cost in the range of Tk3,000-Tk6,0000. 

More and more women are interested in driving now

Before Marziya Baktyer flew all the way to Canada to pursue her master's degree, you could find her taking driving lessons daily at 'Nirapod Driving Training Center', a driving learning school in Dhanmondi. "In Canada, I will have to buy a car for transportation and it's going to be expensive there to learn and get a driving licence. So my father suggested that I should learn it from here before I leave," Marziya said before her departure.

Driving school instructors resonated with Marziya's answer that women are more and more into driving now. "Some learn driving because they are travelling abroad either for studies or immigration, while some learn for professional purposes as well as just for learning a skill," said Saiful Islam, Branch Manager of Pathway driving school. 

According to Saiful Islam, almost 75% of their trainees are women. 

BRAC Driving School primarily has two training programmes which are Shurakkha (defensive driving training) for commercial vehicle drivers and basic driving for the general public. Besides, they took up a project called Four Wheels To Freedom which trained 75 professional female chauffeurs through a two-month-long residential training to equip them with an income generation tool.

Photo: Noor-A-Alam

The project was initiated with the target to include women in the driving profession and provide skills to poor, disadvantaged women who would otherwise spend their lives managing their households.

After completing the training course, the women were presented with BRTA-approved professional driving licences, and today they are employed at reputed INGOs, MNCs, banks and other institutions in Bangladesh.

"From here the trained female drivers have been appointed as official chauffeurs in numerous companies. Even Brac transports have two such female chauffeurs," Mainul Hossain, the manager of Brac transports said. 

How to get an instructor's licence? 

• One must have a professional heavy-weight driving licence. This requires min 3-year of experience driving professional medium-weight motor vehicles. 

• To acquire a professional medium-weight professional licence, one needs a minimum of 3 years of experience driving a professional lightweight motor vehicle.  

• For a professional lightweight driving licence, the candidate must be at least 21 years of age. 

• There are application fees and driving tests at every point.