Ghana to have National Drivers Academy by 2010

Accra, Aug. 26, GNA - Government will soon set up a National Drivers Academy to formally train and to certify particularly commercial vehicle drivers to enable them to operate within acceptable safety standards and practices and enhance road safety. The Academy, which is expected to be fully operational early next year, will take drivers through a well-structured development programme in a form of refresher courses.

Mr Mike Hammah, Minister of Transport, who announced this at the opening of a consultative workshop on the establishment of the school, said the step was one of the interim measures government was adopting to enable drivers to update their knowledge continuously in the art and science of driving.

The National Drivers Academy will be managed by the Government Technical Training Institute (GTTI) and the same institution will be responsible for registration of participants, resource mobilization, training and development.

Examination and certification will be done in collaboration with the National Road Safety Commission in accordance with national vocational training framework and regulations. He said a study conducted in 2003 showed that only 16 per cent of commercial drivers had formal training, attributing major causes of road accidents to human error.

"The Academy will serve as a model and I expect the private sector to partner with government to establish similar training facilities in the regions."

Mr Hammah said the ministry would create the necessary institutional framework for the private sector to participate in the sub-sectors of the road transport industry.

Commenting on the revised Road Traffic Regulation, which is expected to be approved before the end of the year, Mr Hammah said there would be a mandatory installation of speed limiters in vehicles above 3.5 gross vehicle weight.

There will be the use of a vehicle log book, installation of tachographs in vehicles above 3.5 gross vehicle weight and the mandatory attendance of National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) approved driver training programme before renewing driving licenses. Mr Noble Appiah, Executive Director of the NRSC, said there was too much focus on the driver in terms of achieving road safety and that other factors that came into play in the achievement of safety on roads were the vehicle, the road and the human being, be it the driver, the passenger or the pedestrian.

He said people should also disabuse their minds of the fact that road accidents were caused by spiritual forces adding that investigations could be conducted to find the cause of any road accident.

Mr Rudolph Beckley, Transport and Planning Engineer at NRSC, said there was no structured system for driver training and development in Ghana and about 82 per cent of commercial drivers did not attend any driving school. He said the number of deaths due to road accidents between 2000 and 2008 was 16,141. 26 Aug. 09