The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has relaxed a criterion for instructors of heavy vehicle drivers, allowing them to drive for a year only to train others.
Earlier, they had to have three years of driving experience of heavy vehicles to impart such training.
But experts are quick to criticise the initiative, saying that experience cannot be compromised as it is related to knowledge and skills.
Officials said the new criterion will be in place until the rule of the Road Transport Act 2018 is ready.
Sources, however, said the BRTA has to compromise with its earlier regulation to meet the demand from transport owners and workers.
Transport owners and drivers had long been demanding a relaxation of the rule on driving experience to get licence, including training.
They claimed that it would create a bar to meet needs of drivers for mid-weight and heavy vehicles.
Prof Dr Moazzem Hossain of civil engineering department at BUET said heavy vehicles are highly technical and experience is a part of education.
There is no such example in any part of the world, he added.
The BRTA issued a gazette notification dated January 07 on the relaxation of the provision of one year's driving experience.
But it introduces a strict provision of having a secondary school certificate and age bar of 27 to be an instructor of heavy vehicle drivers.
"An instructor now must have a licence of driving heavy vehicles continuously for a year to train drivers of mid-weight and heavy vehicles," said an official.
He, however, said an instructor of light vehicles have to pass three years of continuous driving after getting a licence for such vehicles.
He will also have a secondary school certificate.
According to the BRTA, 5,24,016 motor vehicles were registered and 6,117,162 driving licences issued in fiscal year 2018-19.
It has also trained 1,02,179 persons for professional driving.
Since 2012, the official said, the BRTA has issued 193 instructors to train heavy vehicle drivers.
Prof Moazzem said there is no need for thousands of instructors to give training in heavy vehicle driving.
Existing instructors can support the need of the country, he went on to say.
At present, drivers, mostly private car ones, get light vehicle driving licence through tests.
But most of the mid-weight and heavy vehicle drivers become so while working as assistants.
These people, mostly belonging to poor or having no educational background, teach others causing road accidents as they hardly know traffic rules or technical knowledge of heavy vehicles.
smunima@yahoo.com