Arusha — THE Traffic Division of the Tanzania Police Force has suspended 124 motor vehicle driving schools in the country for failing to meet the required threshold.

According to Chief Commanding Traffic Officer Ramadhani Ng'anzi, the suspended driving schools were given three months to evaluate themselves, but still fell short of meeting the required standards.

The Traffic police commander, who was briefing journalists upon his visit to the Arusha Technical College's (ATC) mechanical unit last Thursday, said the traffic division will continue to re-evaluate its policies regarding the accreditation of new driving schools, with a view of bringing sanity on roads.

"We undertook a thorough inspection of the driving schools and only 106 received a clean bill of health," he disclosed.

The Head of the Traffic Division further revealed that the inspection established that the competence of a great deal of drivers left much to be desired.

"The root of the problem stemmed from the syllabus offered at the driving schools and lack of simulator machines at such learning facilities," he said.

Mr Ng'anzi maintained that the traffic division will continue to suspend the accreditation of driving schools, to check on whether they are complying with the required standards or not.

Earlier on, the Director of Future World Driving School, Robert Mkolla noted with concern as to why many people were desperate to get behind wheels, a move that has seen driving licences issued to those who aren't qualified drivers.

"We are determined to have a common ground of understanding as instructors, with the aim of churning out competent people and eventually reduce road accidents," Mr Mkolla explained.

According to the instructor, there has been a high demand of drivers to operate Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) and Heavy-Duty vehicles (HDVs), calling on fellow owners of driving schools to bridge such a gap.