Nekundi puts driving teachers back in the learner’s seat

Driving instructors who have spent years drilling learners about blind spots, rolling stops and hands that refuse to stay on the steering wheel may soon have to take their own advice, with works and transport minister Veikko Nekundi proposing that every instructor be tested before being allowed to keep teaching Namibians how to drive.

The plan means that neither a long career nor an impressive collection of learner-driver success stories will automatically secure an instructor's place in the new system. Someone who has taught motorists since cassette players were standard equipment will face the same basic question as a newcomer: can you still drive properly, and can you teach another person to do it safely?

“Once we attend the consultations, all of you must be tested, and all of you have to pass first before you become an instructor,” Nekundi told a stakeholder consultation in Otjiwarongo this week.

“Even if you were an instructor for 20 years or 36 years, you are going to be tested.”

The proposed regulations would assess more than an instructor’s ability to reverse into a parking space without climbing onto the pavement.

Applicants would have to demonstrate driving competence, teaching ability and an understanding of defensive driving, while aspiring instructors would also undergo psychometric testing.

Stricter standards

Under the proposed framework, experience will remain valuable, but it will no longer serve as a lifetime exemption from proving competence.

Britain requires anyone charging for driving lessons to qualify as an approved driving instructor by passing a three-part process covering theory and hazard perception, driving ability and instructional competence. Once registered, instructors ordinarily undergo a standards check at least once every four years, during which an examiner observes them conducting a lesson with a pupil.

The British approach accepts that an instructor may have passed the entrance examinations but still needs to demonstrate periodically that the teaching has not deteriorated into pointing at the road and shouting instructions from the passenger seat.

Registration must also be renewed every four years, accompanied by a fresh criminal-record check and confirmation that the instructor remains a fit and proper person.

No wheel invented

South Africa already requires instructors to register with provincial transport authorities and obtain certificates specifying the vehicle classes they are qualified to teach. The process includes medical and fingerprint clearance, while applicants must sit an instructor’s test before receiving certification.

Australian jurisdictions apply similarly strict controls, although the details differ between states and territories. The Australian Capital Territory requires an instructor to hold a full licence, pass a commercial-driver health assessment, undergo suitability checks and obtain formal qualifications in driver training and instruction. New South Wales requires applicants to have held a full licence for at least three of the preceding four years, maintain a safe driving record and meet checks connected to working with children, while instructor licences expire after five years.

New Zealand requires paid instructors to obtain an instructor endorsement and complete an approved course aligned with eight national qualification standards. The system assesses more than whether someone can move a car from one point to another; it recognises instruction as a profession requiring its own body of knowledge.

Nekundi’s proposal therefore places Namibia within an established international approach, although the local system's success will depend on whether the testing is credible, affordable, and administered consistently. If instructors are sent from one office to another, required to wait months for assessments or judged differently in every town, the professionalisation drive could become another obstacle course that tests patience more effectively than driving ability.

Personal and professional duties

The minister also wants instructors’ behaviour on the road to follow them into their professional records. Government plans to digitise and integrate information from municipal traffic authorities, the police and other enforcement agencies, making it possible to identify instructors accumulating offences while teaching paying clients to respect road rules.

“If you are the owner of a driving school or the instructor and you yourself are getting tickets, we are going to revoke your licence,” Nekundi said.

That warning could make every traffic officer an examiner. An instructor who races through a red light after spending the morning teaching learners that amber means "prepare to stop" may discover that professional credibility cannot be recovered by placing an “L” sign on the roof.

The proposed overhaul would also require driving schools to operate as registered businesses, use vehicles that meet prescribed safety standards and follow nationally standardised training manuals. Instructors employed by schools would need contracts and registration with the Social Security Commission, bringing employment practices into a sector that has often operated through informal arrangements.

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