KUALA LUMPUR: DRIVING school fees will increase by 100 per cent when the new driving curriculum is implemented nationwide, beginning Aug 1.
A driving school in Sabah started charging RM2,000 for its course to obtain a manual driving licence yesterday. It is learnt the same driving school in Kota Kinabalu was mulling the possibility of charging RM2,600 for an automatic transmission driver’s licence.
It is likely that learner drivers in other states will have to fork out a similar amount for fees.
Road Transport Department (RTD) director-general Datuk Seri Ismail Ahmad said he would discuss the matter with the national-level driving school association tomorrow to deliberate on costing to obtain licences.
“We hope driving institutes will not take advantage of this and be considerate when fixing their fees.
“I will have to investigate this and discuss it with the driving school association tomorrow to deliberate on costing and other issues.
“I hope we will not have to interfere with the pricing.
“Worse comes to worst, we may have to conduct a workshop and decide the best solution for all parties.”
Ismail said the RTD had left it to market forces to decide on driving school fees to promote healthy competition between schools, but the department would review recent concern regarding costing.
Malaysian Driving Institute Association president Mat Aris Bakar said he was compiling data on the proposed fees for the new curriculum from driving schools nationwide and would present it at the meeting with the RTD.
“The proposed fee will range from RM1,200 to RM1,600 for a manual driving licence. An automatic driving licence is expected to cost more, considering the new sedan cars schools need to purchase for learning purposes.
“Fees will vary depending on the location of driving schools. Urban schools charge more compared with rural schools due to higher operating costs.”
When asked the reason behind the increase in fees, Mat Aris said the newly-revamped learning curriculum required longer teaching hours and a new teaching method.
“This will lead to the ratio of instructor to learners being reduced from 1:20 to 1:13.
“Teaching materials will be upgraded and these costs are transferred to the learners.”
He said the new curriculum was in-depth with a one-on-one teaching approach, unlike the old system where some sections of teaching were conducted in groups.
The new curriculum has done away with theory workshops as it is replaced with learning on driving school circuits.
More emphasis will be placed on the three-point-turn, side parking, slope, S-course and crank-course for practical learning.
“The Qualified Teaching Instructor module will improve to prepare learners for testing,” Mat Aris said, adding the curriculum for motorcycle licences remained unchanged.
National Consumers Complaints Centre director Muhammad Sha’ani Abdullah said driving schools may incur losses if consumers did not obtain drivers licences because of hefty fees.
“Driving is a necessity nowadays. It shouldn’t be commercialised. The increase of a few hundred ringgit may deter consumers from obtaining a licence.
“Some may resort to fake licences or just drive without one,” he said, while urging the authorities to detail the justification for the fee hike to allow consumers to be aware of what they were paying for.
Consumers Association of Penang research officer Joseph Raj said consumers needed to learn how to drive because of a lack of efficient public transport.