Like many young adults across the world, Harold Chen could hardly
wait to get his driving licence. But the bubble of excitement quickly
popped when test time came.
Chen, a 22-year-old Guangzhou resident, was taking the exam with three women. Two of them asked their driving instructor whether paying a 2,000 yuan (HK$2,530) bribe to the city invigilator could guarantee they would pass. They were told it might.
"Two girls who took the test with me offered him the money, and he let them pass after they started driving for one minute," he told the South China Morning Post. Chen didn't offer a bribe and failed the exam after about five minutes.
Chen's frustration is common among driving students on the mainland, where the system for obtaining a permit is not only long - it can take several years in some cases - but riddled with graft.
Driving schools press students for bribes, and the schools in turn bribe city officials to ensure the permits are awarded, according to Fan Li, deputy director of the drivers' committee of the China Road Transport Association, an industry non-profit group.
A vehicle management department in Shijiazhuang , Hebei province, was recently found to have taken 1.81 million yuan in bribes from 40 driving schools. In February last year, more than 40 police officers at a department in Zhanjiang in Guangdong were fired for taking bribes from learner drivers. The corruption is the result of too many people chasing too few licences. There are more than 300 million drivers plying mainland roads, according to official figures released Thursday, and the number is expected to grow by 20 million a year for the next 10 years, authorities say.
On the mainland, driving permits fall under the purview of the Ministry of Public Security, and they are issued through municipal-level vehicle management departments.
Fan said that as a way to control the number of vehicles on the roads, many cities had limited the number of people who could sit the exam and the overall pass rate.
To enlarge their quota, driving schools bribed the vehicle management departments and then charged students a "guarantee pass fee", ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand yuan, Fan said. That's on top of the tuition fee, which in big cities like Guangzhou can run to about 6,000 yuan.
"Whichever [driving school] can send money to a department and maintain good relations with it will be the one whose students pass the exam," Fan said.
Apart from the arbitrary charges, the long wait time for training and sitting the exam angers many would-be drivers, and the situation is worse in big cities, where the rush for permits is greatest.
Under existing rules, applicants must complete a minimum of 78 hours of training at a driving school before they can take the exam, which comprises four parts covering theory and driving.
It can take an applicant anywhere from a few months to more than two years to complete the process, depending on the city. Retaking a portion of the exam can add several more months.
"I registered for the exam 2½ years ago and am still waiting to retake the road test. I needed to wait three to six months before taking each subject. Some people who registered around the same time as me even haven't passed the second test yet," Chen said.
To get around the backlog, some schools were bussing their students to cities in other provinces where the wait was shorter, an instructor with 12 years of experience in Guangzhou said. Cities in Guangxi , Jiangxi and Hunan were popular alternatives, the instructor said.
"In those provinces, 30 days after you pass the first theory test, you can take the remaining three tests three days in a row. Students only need to travel there twice and can get a licence in two months. It saves a lot of time."
Although faster, the out-of-town option deters some student drivers because it can add several thousand yuan to the overall cost.
To ensure the most number of students pass the exam in the shortest time, some driving schools are imposing "exam-focused education" - but that doesn't guarantee they learn the necessary skills to drive safely.
Some schools even provided "crash courses" that ignored the 78-hour training minimum required by law, said Tan Henglin, the director of the drivers' committee at the transport industry association.
One 23-year-old student in Beijing said he took part in one such course and got his licence in nine months.
"We didn't even have 50 hours of training time. My hours were about half of what is said in the rules," he said.
The authorities appear to be aware of the problems. On Monday, Huang Ming, the deputy minister of public security, announced possible reforms aimed at improving the quality of training and reducing corruption. Huang was short on specifics but it appears the idea is to encourage a greater role for independent instructors.
Learners will be able to register online for the exam and train on their own, although they will have to use a properly equipped instructor's vehicle. These can be bought by qualified drivers who have an instructor's licence.
Online registration might help limit the deal-making between the vehicle management departments and driving schools, Tan said. "The vehicle management departments hold the power … and they set the conditions for corruption," Tan said.
Chen, a 22-year-old Guangzhou resident, was taking the exam with three women. Two of them asked their driving instructor whether paying a 2,000 yuan (HK$2,530) bribe to the city invigilator could guarantee they would pass. They were told it might.
"Two girls who took the test with me offered him the money, and he let them pass after they started driving for one minute," he told the South China Morning Post. Chen didn't offer a bribe and failed the exam after about five minutes.
Chen's frustration is common among driving students on the mainland, where the system for obtaining a permit is not only long - it can take several years in some cases - but riddled with graft.
Driving schools press students for bribes, and the schools in turn bribe city officials to ensure the permits are awarded, according to Fan Li, deputy director of the drivers' committee of the China Road Transport Association, an industry non-profit group.
A vehicle management department in Shijiazhuang , Hebei province, was recently found to have taken 1.81 million yuan in bribes from 40 driving schools. In February last year, more than 40 police officers at a department in Zhanjiang in Guangdong were fired for taking bribes from learner drivers. The corruption is the result of too many people chasing too few licences. There are more than 300 million drivers plying mainland roads, according to official figures released Thursday, and the number is expected to grow by 20 million a year for the next 10 years, authorities say.
On the mainland, driving permits fall under the purview of the Ministry of Public Security, and they are issued through municipal-level vehicle management departments.
Fan said that as a way to control the number of vehicles on the roads, many cities had limited the number of people who could sit the exam and the overall pass rate.
To enlarge their quota, driving schools bribed the vehicle management departments and then charged students a "guarantee pass fee", ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand yuan, Fan said. That's on top of the tuition fee, which in big cities like Guangzhou can run to about 6,000 yuan.
"Whichever [driving school] can send money to a department and maintain good relations with it will be the one whose students pass the exam," Fan said.
Apart from the arbitrary charges, the long wait time for training and sitting the exam angers many would-be drivers, and the situation is worse in big cities, where the rush for permits is greatest.
Under existing rules, applicants must complete a minimum of 78 hours of training at a driving school before they can take the exam, which comprises four parts covering theory and driving.
It can take an applicant anywhere from a few months to more than two years to complete the process, depending on the city. Retaking a portion of the exam can add several more months.
"I registered for the exam 2½ years ago and am still waiting to retake the road test. I needed to wait three to six months before taking each subject. Some people who registered around the same time as me even haven't passed the second test yet," Chen said.
To get around the backlog, some schools were bussing their students to cities in other provinces where the wait was shorter, an instructor with 12 years of experience in Guangzhou said. Cities in Guangxi , Jiangxi and Hunan were popular alternatives, the instructor said.
"In those provinces, 30 days after you pass the first theory test, you can take the remaining three tests three days in a row. Students only need to travel there twice and can get a licence in two months. It saves a lot of time."
Although faster, the out-of-town option deters some student drivers because it can add several thousand yuan to the overall cost.
To ensure the most number of students pass the exam in the shortest time, some driving schools are imposing "exam-focused education" - but that doesn't guarantee they learn the necessary skills to drive safely.
Some schools even provided "crash courses" that ignored the 78-hour training minimum required by law, said Tan Henglin, the director of the drivers' committee at the transport industry association.
One 23-year-old student in Beijing said he took part in one such course and got his licence in nine months.
"We didn't even have 50 hours of training time. My hours were about half of what is said in the rules," he said.
The authorities appear to be aware of the problems. On Monday, Huang Ming, the deputy minister of public security, announced possible reforms aimed at improving the quality of training and reducing corruption. Huang was short on specifics but it appears the idea is to encourage a greater role for independent instructors.
Learners will be able to register online for the exam and train on their own, although they will have to use a properly equipped instructor's vehicle. These can be bought by qualified drivers who have an instructor's licence.
Online registration might help limit the deal-making between the vehicle management departments and driving schools, Tan said. "The vehicle management departments hold the power … and they set the conditions for corruption," Tan said.
No comments:
Post a Comment