Question NW227 to the Minister of Basic Education
18 May 2017 - NW227
McLoughlin, Mr AR to ask the Minister of Basic Education
With regard to the announcement by the Minister of Transport, Ms Dipuo Peters, on 18 January 2017 that driving simulator lessons would be included in the school curriculum, (a) when will this addition to the curriculum be made, (b) what will each simulator lesson entail and (c) will any of the costs of such an addition be paid for by her department?
Reply:
Below is the extract from a speech made by the Minister of Transport on the occasion of the handing over ceremony torch of peace, at Soshanguve East Secondary School in Shoshanguve –Gauteng, on 17 January, to provide context to the response:
“RTMC is currently implementing numerous road safety school projects. To mention just two, for the purposes of brevity, the RTMC’s drivers licence project gives unemployed youth opportunities to obtain drivers licenses through training on simulators and on the roads and they also facilitate the Scholar Patrol project which offers scholar patrol training to schools.”
“Part of the long term initiative to establish and enhance road safety relates to the skilling of our drivers, particularly those who will be acquiring licenses for the first time. Our intended purpose is to work with the Department of Basic Education to include the Driving lessons at high school as part of the curriculum.”
(a) The Department of Basic Education intends to pilot the driver simulator lessons in partnership with the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC).
(b) Driver Simulator lessons are a practical method of training drivers before they drive a vehicle on the roads. The intention is to have competent drivers at the point when learners are eligible to test for a driver’s licence. This will not be in the curriculum but will be an enrichment programme.
(c) No, there would not be any cost to be incurred by the Department of Basic Education.