There have been many complaints raised with the Arrive Alive website with regards to the legality of the computerized learner license test. We would like to provide some insights with regards to the nature of these complaints and the response from the South African Institute of Driver Instructors.
Complaint:
To whom it may concern,
I happened to come across you website few days ago. I wrote my learners test 2 weeks back. The test came as a great shock as I realised that the questions that I was asked were not covered in the k53 book.
With great despair, I tried to figure out what I had done wrong as I had studied for the test recurring each day and night prior to the test. The questions that were covered are as follows:
• Engine covering
• Exhaust pipes and silencers
• Lamps for number plates
• Retro-reflectors – Red
• Retro-reflectors – White
• Retro-reflectors – Yellow
• Number of spot lights
After I had written the test, I went back to the k53 book to check what the answers for those questions were and could not find them.
I felt so cheated by the government. I mean how they can sell us books that do not cover the entire scope of the syllabus.
Your assistance will be highly appreciated.
Kind regards
Response from Pat Allen / SAIDI
Please see the emailed complaint below. It is one of many already submitted.
At SAIDI we are 100% in favour of the computerised learners licence, but the prescribed syllabus is clearly not being complied with.
It would seem that the many requests for the questions which fall beyond the syllabus to be removed, which we and many others, have submitted, continue to be ignored.
According to SAQA standards 256515 for the testing of learners licence tests at DLTC’s tests must be fair, valid, reliable, practicable and consistent, but this is definitely not the case here.
According to the attached SAQU Unit standards the requirements are to “Apply ethics during the examining of candidates.”
Is the aim of the learners licence test not to test the applicant’s knowledge as far as it affects a new driver, or is it to try to trick and fail the applicants?
Why are these questions still included in the test?
Urgent attention to this would ensure fair tests.
We fully agree that every learner should know the law very thoroughly.
(I believe it is well-known that I personally spent 8 years writing fully-comprehensive training programmes that cover the exact law, scanned in from the NRTA, so no-one can deny that I agree far more than most, but a syllabus does exist which is not being complied with.)
At the moment the failure rate is undeniably very high.
Another aspect of the SAQA requirements that is not being complied with is “The candidate’s results are discussed with the candidate in an appropriate manner suited to the candidate.”
This is not the case. Applicants are given the failure results and dismissed without explanation, which costs them money time and again, and lost days at work, months of delay before eventually acquiring a valid learners licence, if they ever do but in many cases it leads directly to the buying of licences and following the corrupt route because it victimises the public.
Since no improvement has occurred, we are left with no alternative but to take this matter further.
Best regards,
P.A. Allen
What the Qualifications Criteria should be:
