HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 2009-12-09, Page 40Page 40 - Goderich Signal-5tar, Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Driving instructors face plummeting enrollment numbers
Dominique Milburn
signal -star staff
It was business as usual at the Drive Right
driver education centre in Goderich last Fri-
day— as usual as it gets these days.
About 10 licensed driving instructors from
southwestern Ontario met at the Suncoast
Drive office Dec. 4 to go over a possible
new student -friendly curriculum they may
want to purchase. But as with most days for
the past three months, talks quickly turned to
the mounting problems facing their compa-
nies, and all Ontario drivers.
Since August 21, the more than 500 On-
tario driving examiners have been off the
job, a strike resulting from a failure to reach
an agreement with their employer, Serco
DES Inc.
Serco has held a 10 -year, $114 million
contract with the Ministry of Transportation
since 2003.
In short, the strike has meant no Ontarian
has been able to obtain a new license from
any of the 55 Drive Test locations for more
than 14 weeks. Around here, it means hun-
dreds of Huron County teenagers have been
unable to obtain a license. It also means driv-
er education enrollment has plummeted.
"I have people stopping me every day to
ask me about testing," said Kathy Delbridge,
a Drive Right instructor based out of Exeter.
"I spend half my day now explaining to peo-
ple why they're striking."
As it stands, young drivers who want to
take the G1 written exam can do so, if they
have patience. Since the Aug. 23 official
strike date, a dozen centres have reopened
throughout Ontario, though training instruc-
tors agree, it's not enough.
The trouble is, students who visit any of
the reopened sites, like Kitchener or Barrie
and Brampton, aren't guaranteed an appoint-
ment. According to Delbridge, once students
cross the picket line, their wait begins on the
first -come -first -serve basis.
At each of the 12 locations, some open
since Nov. 12, only limited services are
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available. Staffed by management and strik-
ing employees who have chosen to cross the
picket line, open centres offer road testing
for commercial drivers and other high prior-
ity groups.
"We 100 per cent support those employees
on strike for doing what they need to do. It's
not for more money, they're fighting for se-
niority and benefits," said Drive Right self -
contracted instructor Rolland Eurig said,
adding that it sounded like "the company
wants to put them all on part-time hours. No
one at any job would stand for that."
Both Eurig and Delbridge, along with
Goderich-based driver education instructor
Garth Sheldon, say that there is one place
still that they have been able to get their
students' written tests done. Last month the
Drive Right instructors rented a bus with
which they transported a group of students
to Toronto, where they say the MTO has re-
tained operations at one driver testing centre
at Queen's Park.
During their Nov. 23 bus trip to the Toron-
to MTO test centre, 48 student drivers were
able to complete their 01 tests within a span
of two hours. The next bus trip has been ar-
ranged for Dec. 14, and these instructors are
hoping it will be a full load.
Without access to road tests, the enroll-
ment numbers have dropped off at Drive
Right. Each instructor says their ideal class
size is 24 students, though they can accom-
modate a maximum of 40.
"My last class was five students," said
Delbridge.
Sheldon's numbers aren't much better.
His last two courses in Exeter and Clinton
recorded six and seven students respectively.
The same courses last year ran with 17 and
18 enrolled.
"The problem with that is we can only take
so many students," Eurig said. "When this
thing is over, we will probably get a flood of
students signing up."
The instructors said while road testing is
still stuck in park, students should continue
to sign up for education courses to meet their
in -class requirements.
While instructor's bills for insurance and
expenses keep piling up, they say the thing
they'd most like to see now is more media
exposure. They say the more information
there is out there will lead to more people
urging their MPPs to address the labour dis-
pute.
"We need to get the press to focus on the
government and what they're not doing for
us," said Delbridge. "It's amazing how much
they're not caring."
Information on the ongoing strike is up-
dated on the Drive Test centre web site,
www.drivetest.ca.
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