The Government has launched an Electronic Learner's Licence Testing System (ELLTS) at the Vehicle Inspectorate Department (VID) Rusape depot as part of a raft of new measures to reduce rampant corruption in the acquisition of driver's licences.
Corruption at most of VID depots has for the past few years been cited as one of the key contributors to the increase in accidents on the country's roads.
In a statement yesterday, the Transport and Infrastructural Development Ministry confirmed the development.
"VID Rusape depot is now computerised and has gone live on Electronic Learner's Licence Testing (ELLT)," reads the statement.
So far more 16 VID depots have been computerised countrywide.
In 2019, the Government intensified the fight against corruption at the Vehicle Inspection Department and launched an Electronic Learner's Licence Testing System to enhance transparency and reduce human involvement in the issuance of drivers' licences.
The system was then rolled out to some of the VID depots.
Under the new system, prospective drivers are no longer required to bring drivers' licence photographs as these are captured by the system as part of registering one's biometrics.
Further, the system is so efficient and convenient that it does the marking automatically upon completion of the test without human involvement.
The Government declared zero tolerance to corruption in line with Vision 2030 and launched the new system which was developed under the Zimbabwe Integrated Transport Management Information System (ZIMTIS).
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The system is aimed at curbing corruption in a big way and improving efficiency in the issuance of driver's licences.
The security features inherent in the ELLTS also guarantee that fake provisional driver's licences and driver's licences are eliminated.
According to the ministry, the system enhances accountability by having added features for audit trails.
The testing software has a bank of more than 1 000 questions, which are randomly selected by the computer.
"Therefore, students can never predict which questions they are going to be asked and the grading is done as soon as a student completes the final question.
"This not only cuts down on waiting time, but also prevents any kind of corruption between the students and the official on duty, who might accept bribes for passing a student, when they actually failed," the ministry recently said.
"This integrated system will bring together the strategic components of road traffic and transport management, promote the efficient use of national infrastructure and sharing of information among relevant Government departments and agencies," the ministry recently said.
The implementation of the ELLTS also enhances road safety and contribute towards the reduction of road carnage.
The ELLTS resonates well with the SADC region's endeavour to harmonise and standardise driver training and testing requirements within the Sadc region.
