Rabat – Tensions flared on Monday among supervisors and officials of driving schools in Morocco following a near-mass failure of candidates in the country’s driving license exam, which was newly formatted and recently implemented.
According to a report from state channel 2M, the 99% failure rate is due to the delay of March 18 to March 25 for the rollout of the new question bank from NARSA, the regulating body of the exam. The body cited organizational and technical hurdles.
Professionals also highlighted restrictions on the use of the Perminou-NARSA training platform as a likely cause.
Mohsen Afdil, President of the Hope Association for Driving Instructors and Road Safety in Tangier, pointed fingers at what he termed as impromptu reforms, stressing the need for better preparation and communication.
He noted to 2M a collective reluctance among candidates to register at driving schools in recent weeks, which further compounded the situation.
On his part, Abdelaziz Bajdouri, President of the National Authority for Driving Schools and Traffic Law in Morocco, suggested to 2M that the failure was foreseeable due to the lack of readiness among some driving school supervisors to adapt to the updated legal provisions.
He urged for a quicker embrace of modernization and digitization in driving education to avoid such pitfalls in the future.
As the fallout from the mass failure continues, concerns loom over the management of upcoming exams and the pressure it will place on examination centers. Bajdouri emphasized to the media the importance of swift adaptation to the new digital platform, stressing that success in obtaining a driving license hinges on it.
The report explains that NARSA said that it is preparing to release the necessary data to respond to the issue.
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