THE ROLE OF ROAD TRANSPORT ASSOCIATIONS IN TRANSPORT TRAINING |
A CONCEPTUAL MODEL 1. Introduction In November 1998, the present Tacis project produced a Report on Training for the Road Transport Industry that made it clear that
Therefore, there is a need to ensure a level of quality control of road transport training centres and examination systems throughout the Russian Federation. It is believed that Regional Road Transport Associationspossibly under the co-ordinating leadership of the Federal Associationcan play a useful role in this respect. During the present projects Study Tour to England (in December 1998), Regional Association and Ministry of Transport representatives suggested that the project should assist in specifying this role. The present paper attempts to do this.
2. Outline of Road Transport Associations role in the Training market It is not recommended that the Regional Road Transport Associations themselves enter the traditional road transport training market which already shows over-capacity. However, there is a need to standardise training products, and provide a level of quality assurance for the whole of the transport training regime. If it is accepted that ...
then a number of opportunities arise for the Road Transport Associations to assist, without posing a direct or indirect challenge to the authority of the Ministry of Transport. By participating in the training management and monitoring process, the Associations will be merely ensuring that the policy objectives of the Ministry are implemented. It is recommended to implement the following changes to the training system:
Summarising, the market niche that can be fulfilled by the Associations is to:
Although so far, the Ministry of Transport (MoT) has assumed most of this role (e.g. certification of regional training centres), this is not necessarily the most effective and efficient way. The logical starting point of this present proposal is the fact that transport legislation is the prime responsibility of the Ministry of Transport (MoT), where the Automobile Department must prepare new legislation which is then processed by MoT's Legal Department. Licensing of transport operators and associated enforcement is the task of MoTs Transport Inspectorate (RTI). Transport legislation is in almost continuous change or adaptation. It must by definition be dynamic, and will over time converge with standards abroad as trade with major trading blocks in East and West grows. While the Ministry of Transport is the prime actor in this legislative field, it is also well-positioned to help formulating Syllabi for training providers, which are consistent and regularly updated in accordance with legislative updates. It would be appropriate for the Ministry to initiate the establishment of a Transport Training Schemes Council which meets regularly (1) to review the Syllabi and (2) to set the Examinations which measure competence to agreed standards. The main strength of the Regional Associationsco-ordinated by the Federal associationwill be their outreach into all areas of the country and the network that they, thus, could create and maintain with the necessarily de-centralised training providers. Of course, the Ministry of Education has its own historical role and responsibilities in relation to (any) professional training programmes and centres, and its participation in any proposed reform and changed approach will be essential for achieving the intended improvements. Therefore, the proposed Transport Training Schemes Council shall be composed as follows:
Either the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Transport would chair the Council, but its Secretariat could possibly best be run by the Federal Road Transport Unions representatives. The attached schematic diagram (Annex-A) illustrates the roles and interaction of the various bodies and parties. They are further described in the following sections.
3. The Transport Training Schemes Council Proposed composition
The Council will meet quarterly to review legislative change, devise Syllabi and build a Question bank for training courses. The courses covered would include:
!! 2 items deleted Others may be added as deemed necessary. The Councilwith its limited sizeis a policy making body. It needs ad hoc or more permanent Work groups supporting it, particularly during the first years of its existence. The first updating of (most) Syllabi will be a demanding job. A dedicated Task force would be needed for this, selecting what is good among all the existing training materials, throwing overboard all less essential or outdated materials, and filling up some identified gaps with modern or updated training materials. The Council should prepare the Brief for this Task force, and ensure that it produces what is required within a certain time limit. The Question bank would be built using a computer database from which random selection for examinations may be selected. Confidentiality and integrity of the system will be maintained concurrent with uniform, high standards. The inter-Regional communication system between the Federal Union and the Regional Associations must become the guarantee for this. It is the (Federal) Union and (Regional) Associations fundamental interest to protect the good image of the (road transport) industry. There is an inter-relationship between the Syllabi contents and the Examinations (Question bank), calling for co-ordination between the parties working on these subjects. Another important feature or task is the establishment of pass marks for the examinations which would be set by the Council. Annex-B to this report provides an example of how a new or updated "Certificate of Professional Competence" - for Road Haulage and for Passenger Transport respectively - could be constituted.
4. Ministry of Transport The Ministry needs to play its leading role of determining transport policy and legislation aimed at optimum safety and economic development of transport. Participation in the Transport Training Schemes Council will further re-inforce the quality, financial standing and enforcement standards that are so necessary for the sector.
5. Russian Transport Inspectorate Whilst being invited to participate in the Transport Training Schemes Council to contribute in terms of Syllabus and Question bank development, RTIs role and function will remain unchanged. The clear advantage of its participation will be that when Licenses are granted, they will only do so to bona fide applicants who can produce a Certificate of Professional competence based on the Standards approved by the Transport Training Schemes Council. 6. Federal Road Transport Union This new organisation will act as the Secretariat to the Transport Training Schemes Council and will issue the (approved) Training course Syllabi. It will also be the guardian of the Question bank, will supervise the examinations process, and will issue certificates on behalf of the Council via the appropriate Regional Associations. The cost of providing this service can be recoverable from the examination fee charged to candidates who enrol for the examination.
7. Regional Road Transport Associations All (certified) Transport Training Providers will be required to be members of the Regional Road Transport Associations (in many cases, they already are). The Regional Association will issue examination papers to the qualified or approved Training Centres at the appropriate time and will carry out ad hoc inspections of examinations, checking:
The funding of this activity will be via the examination fees structure. Additionally, the Regional Association will provideor organise annual up-date training for the Training Providers instructional staff. This would be a revenue-earning stream for the Association, as the update training would be mandatory if training providers wish (1) to continue as an approved centre and (2) to be able to offer training certification approved by the Transport Training Schemes Council. Without this training, it would not be feasible to guarantee that the training provided is in accordance with the changes on the transport law and/or with (gradually) more strict enforcement.
8. Transport Training Providers In numerical terms, the Transport Training market is well served by training providers. It is the quality of training to consistent standards which is the questionable element. By being a member of the Regional Association, the Transport Training provider will receive:
The Training providers with the best exam-pass rates are likely to be the most successful in attracting new candidates. The sensitivity for price differentials will decline if the quality of the training delivered fails to enable candidates to reach the pass mark. The Regional Associations shall make it their business (interest) to monitor and provide information on Training providers quality and exam-pass rates. Training providers will need to re-state their pricing policy for training to separate the cost of training from the examination fees which be setat a common national levelby the Transport Training Schemes Council. The first step towards improving the standards of training should be the harmonisation and monitoring of examinations, enabling impartial comparison of training providers. Once this has been achieved, it will be desirable to set minimum standards for the education and updating of knowledge of trainers. The first steps in a (Re-)Training of Trainers programme would be to introduce a system of accreditation for trainers - taking into account their previous qualifications and perhaps their results in a further test - and to set requirements for re-training and updating. The road transport associations could be given the responsibility of vetting applications for accreditation and ensuring that the rules of continuing education were complied with. Employers of prospective students or the students themselves would be able to consult the association to find details of accredited instructors and courses in their region.
9. Transport Operators The involvement of the Associations in the quality auditing and monitoring of training in the manner described will ensure that Transport Operators have staff trained to defined, consistent standards. Their membership of Regional Associations will become an accepted norm for easy access to training of the required level, certified by the Transport Training Schemes Council. Only by designing a closed-loop system in this way will cheap, sub-standard training (disregarding controlled examination procedures) be eradicated. Costs for training may altogether rise slightly, but the pricing is to be uniformly applied and eventually pressed on to the user of transport.
10. Final remark The various playersOperators, Associations, Transport Inspectorate and Ministry of Transportneed to get their act together to enrol the Transport Training providers in the type of reform described here. The proposed Transport Training Schemes Council needs to initiate such reform and provide the necessary leadership and authority to implement the advocated closed-loop system.
Annex-A - Schematic Diagram of Interaction of various Bodies/Agencies Annex-B - Example Syllabus for "Certificate of Professional Competence in Road Haulage"
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