In the wake of frequent road crashes, the ministry of youth and sports has mapped out a plan to train up 40,000 people to make them skilled drivers. In this regard, the youth and sports ministry has submitted a proposal titled ‘Training on Vehicles Driving’ with an estimated cost of Tk 141.10 crore to the planning commission.
Once the proposal is approved by ECNEC, Department of Youth Development under the supervision of the ministry will implement the project within 2022.
Concerned ministry sources informed that road accident is periodically on the rise. World Bank has identified a high ratio of traffic accidents in the country compared to other countries. The unskilled and unlicensed drivers is one of the main reasons behind the accident.
Sources said, “As road accidents continue to increase in the country, several initiatives are being taken to minimise the problem. The youth and sports ministry is also taking steps to train 40,000 drivers in the country”.
The concerned ministry’s additional secretary Tajul Islam Chowdhury told media that, “The government has taken several initiatives, youth and sports ministry has also come forward to support the initiative and placed its proposal to the concerned authority.” He continued, “This will create skilled drivers which will reduce road accidents and generate employment opportunities as well.”
The proposal stated that with the rising number of vehicles unwanted road accident is also increasing. These accidents are taking place because of a lack of adequate knowledge of traffic rules and technical ideas. In recent times, several tragic road accidents have taken place in different parts of the country.
According to a recent survey conducted by BRAC, about 380 driving schools are currently training people to create skilled drivers. However, most of them do not follow the proper curriculum during their training. Most schools do not have sufficient driving simulators, required vehicles, physical infrastructure, skilled and licensed teachers. Hence, the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) approved only 69 schools out of 380.
As per the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target and Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, the country must reduce the number of victims of road accidents. BRTA has taken measures to attain the target, but this is insufficient compared to the need. In this regard, the National Youth Development centres planned to introduce a course on driving.
The planning commission said that the feasibility and evaluation report of the project is incomplete for it to be implemented across 40 districts of the country. Besides, under the project, Directorate of Youth Development has proposed the construction of six residential buildings and tracks. The commission is also trying to know an estimated cost.
On the other hand, a good number of projects are underway for training of drivers. Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training is also taking a project to train one lakh skilled drivers. BRTC has the plan to train three lakh drivers. A good number of NGOs are also providing such training.
