By Salman Siddiqui/Staff Reporter

 

 

The waiting period at driving schools in Doha could be as long as three months as there is a heavy rush for admissions after the end of the Eid holidays.

The situation is particularly bad at the private driving schools, which, according to one manager, face a capacity issue. “There just aren’t enough cars and instructors with the school to cater to the huge demand ,” he said.

Also, most applicants look to join courses for cars with automatic transmission in the belief that they will have a better chance at clearing the test. “The waiting period is a bit shorter for those who want to take a driving course in a manual gear  car, but most people don’t want to go for this option,” the manager said, adding that it doesn’t matter whether one takes the test in manual or automatic cars; on the test day, the police evaluate candidates equally.

The Karwa driving school, run by Mowasalat, the public transport company,  too is seeing  a huge rush of applicants. However, as it has a large facility with around 150 multilingual instructors, one office-bearer said their waiting period was at most a couple of weeks even during the peak season. However, he agreed that most applicants try to take a course in automatic vehicles even though it is a myth that it will be easier for them to clear the test.

Also, private driving schools are in general more expensive than the Karwa training centre in the Industrial Area. Yet, many people prefer to take courses in the private schools.

One banker said he knowingly enrolled in a private school despite the fact that it was more expensive than Karwa. “Although I feel it’s unfair that I have to pay more, I do it only because the school is located close to my office,” he explained.

Further, it is learnt that some private driving schools have increased their fees since the start of this year.  

According to the rate sheet of a popular private driving school in Doha, the full course for light vehicles is  QR3,350, half course QR2,800 and short course QR1,950.

Last year, the full course at the same school cost around QR2,800.

In contrast, the Karwa school charges QR2,730 for the full course and QR2,130 for the half course.

Recently, there was a rumour that people such as a resident’s wife or children on family sponsorship would no longer be allowed to enroll in driving schools. However, inquiries at the schools revealed that no such changes had been enforced.

“In fact, even those on family visit visa,  can still enroll in the driving school by just providing a copy of the passport and a visa copy along with documents of the sponsor,” a manager said.

However, the ban on enrollment of some categories of workers in driving schools, which was introduced in July 2013 in an effort to reduce congestion on roads, remains in place, he added.