E-Paper
Pune RTO instructs driving schools to follow IIT Kharagpur driving training manual
Essentially, the Pune RTO wants all driving schools not only to teach students how to drive a vehicle but also topics such as road safety
PUNE The Pune RTO has instructed all driving schools to update their teaching techniques as per the IIT Kharagpur and West Bengal state government driving training manual/s. Essentially, the Pune RTO wants all driving schools not only to teach students how to drive a vehicle but also topics such as road safety, vehicle features and how to repair vehicles when in an emergency.
Accordingly, several city-based driving schools have completely changed their teaching programmes to incorporate taking students to garages and service centres and teaching more of theory in addition to practical driving lessons.
One such driving school in Pune which is following these new guidelines and teaching its students ‘motor driving’ in the new way is Gaurang Motor Driving School. Started by an IT professional Deepak Kanade, this school is working along with the Pune RTO to make a difference, “In this driving school, we train the students first on a simulator in which the student get an experience of the different seasonal environment of the roads. We take theory class in the classroom and teach the students about road rules and penalties along with traffic signs and road signs. To be safe on the road, we must keep our vehicles safe and road worthy. To teach this aspect, we take students to Hyundai service centres at Kondhwa and teach them basic maintenance. This way, we give classroom training and off-road training and then on-road training to our students. This method of training has been very successful and students are becoming safer drivers on the road.”
Sanjay Sasane, deputy regional transport officer at Pune RTO, said, “When a person takes admission in a motor driving school to learn how to drive, there are fixed hours of driving classes during which he or she is trained. But only learning to drive is not enough and so, we took the help of the IIT Kharagpur and West Bengal state government driving training manual. It has various topics related to driving training, such as road safety, vehicle features, maintenance and repairs of the vehicle, etc.”
“There are various things covered under this module including a scientific way of driving, defense driving technique, new regulations related to road safety, industrial visits, tyre puncture workshop, observation skills and actual car manufacturing or service centre visits. Only teaching driving and taking some few hours of classroom lectures is not enough in today’s changing world,” Sasane said.
While the public has also appreciated these new ways of teaching motor driving, Charu Shinde, a student, said, “I am willing to enroll my name for a motor driving school soon, and if I get such a school with new modern techniques of driving, then I would be more than happy and safer while driving.”
