Rwanda National Police

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Emmanuel K. Gasana has urged driving school proprietors to adopt quality standards and modern training methods to produce students that foster road traffic safety.

IGP Gasana made the call on September 21 during a meeting with owners and representatives of 47 driving schools operating in the country.

The meeting which was hosted at the Rwanda National Police (RNP) Headquarters in Kacyiru is part of the ongoing road safety awareness campaign month.

In his message, IGP Gasana said that the importance of driving schools in the society today cannot be overemphasized – noting that instilling professional and modern driving techniques among aspiring drivers is important in drastically minimizing road accidents.

“You are required to maintain quality and harmonized standards, as well as adopt modern training modules that enable you to operate in a professional manner,” IGP Gasana said.

“Most of the road accidents that occur are due to bad driving or lack of knowledge on traffic rules – and they lead to loss of life. Despite the fact that the roads we have today are better than what we had in the past, reckless driving still proves a challenge. Therefore, it is the duty of driving schools to ensure that they graduate professional drivers who uphold values of road safety.”

He added that issues of integrity and anti-corruption must be held in high regards among driving school operators and ensure that their conduct provides sound judgment in pursuance of educating drivers about traffic safety.

“Police will endeavor to be accessible whenever needed to conduct necessary inspections and training of driving school operators in order to promote professionalism,” he said.

“Vehicles you use in driving lessons should be in good condition and acceptable standard. On top of training, you should also provide hopeful drivers with pertinent information regarding road safety.”

Emmanuel Twagirayezu, the President of Rwanda Driving Schools Association, commended RNP for reaching out to operators, and encouraged his colleagues to promote safe driving by participating in road safety campaigns.

“Some people think that driving is easy and they drive without even attaining necessary skills. As operators, we need to emphasize the need for every driver to attend a driving school before driving on the public road,” he said.

“Police has been a good partner; therefore, we should honor this partnership by ensuring that our graduates are qualified drivers. We are also required to oblige by the rules governing our schools.”

One of the participants, Celestin Rwiyamirira, the Managing Director of Midland School of Motoring, added that: “All of us should respect the rules of driving schools, perform business in an environment that is hygienic and ensure that our staffs are professional as they conduct driving tests and lessons.”

The Police Spokesperson, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) revealed that one of the resolutions taken by the meeting was that police is going to organise  a retreat with driving school operators, through which they will further discuss pertinent issues and potential partnership areas, help to uplift Schools capacity as well as how to overcome persistent challenges faced by the operators.