22 Apr 2015

A professional driving instructor has appreciated the increased enrolment of women in driving schools.

Speaking in an interview, Mr Kago Kgopa, owner of Safer Roads Academy in Kasane said around 65 per cent of his clients were women. The academy, which started off as his father’s company, under the name Neelano Driving School, recorded an increase in the number of women since 2000 to date. 

“This year I have registered 157 clients and 101 are female,” noted Mr Kgopa.  To accommodate this growing number of both women and men alike, Mr Kgopa has three different locations for his academy, which are Kasane, Plateau and Kazungula.

He observed that it is evident that women are breaking barriers and trying out areas which they would have never looked into not so long ago.  “This could have been due to changing gender roles and household responsibilities,” opined Mr Kgopa.

With five cars under the company belt, Mr Kgopa said that his was the largest driving academy in Kasane.  He noted that women are much easier to teach than men as the latter tend to feel that certain basic steps are unnecessary as they deem them to be too easy.

The academy provides weekend camps free of charge for registered students and Mr Kgopa said that women take this added benefit very seriously as they show up every at every chance the school provides. 

Mr Kgopa revealed that he is working on a video that will help his students with visual assistance to various scenarios that a driver could face whilst roaming through various roads and places.

He said that he has difficulty in finding a piece of land where he can be permanently placed by the council.  The professional instructor added that where he is currently located in Kazungula and Plateau is on a temporary basis.

He also struggles with finding another professional instructor to lighten his load, especially with road training for his students. 

“I had put up an advert for a professional instructor a few months ago and I only received four applicants and this could be due to the lack of instructors or the lack of accommodation for them in Kasane.” He said.

As a result, his students encounter the disadvantage of having to wait long periods before being examined.  “Currently Kasane does not have an examiner based here,” said Mr Kgopa.

He said that despite the higher number of registered women at the academy, he ensures that each client receives equal service. “We do have men that are as determined as most of the women here and no one gets special attention,” said Mr Kgopa. 

A student at the academy, Ms Cecilia Mosweu said that she has sailed smoothly from her theory test to her yard training and she is happy with the service she has received so far. ENDS