Cabbies 'not to blame' for poor English

Cabbies 'not to blame' for poor English
By Eric Randolph

TAXI drivers have reacted angrily to council figures that suggest many of them lack basic ability in English and maths.

As we reported last week, one in five drivers are failing to meet adequate levels of literacy and numeracy required for the new Transporting Passengers BTEC qualification, introduced last year.

But drivers have come forward to say this is not because they lack intelligence, but because the council failed to screen applicants properly before giving them a licence.

advertisementJohn Florance, who has been a cabbie in Bournemouth for over 20 years, said: "This test was introduced because the council realised they had hired loads of drivers who could not speak English.

"It's not their fault - it's just that English is not their first language.

"It is the council that made the mistake. They should have ensured drivers had a good enough grip of the language before licensing them.

"They realised their mistake and now they're closing the gate when the horse has already bolted."

Between 15 and 20 per cent of the 500 drivers who have so far taken the test were found to need extra tuition.

John Tye, who has been teaching the BTEC course for the past year, said: "We are having serious language difficulties with many candidates and we have to work hard to get them up to standard.

"Taxi drivers have to deal with very complex situations - picking up people who have been involved in violence, or from hospital, or from court.

"They need a strong grasp of English in order to empathise and know the best place to take people."

Keith Evans, licensing officer for Bournemouth Borough Council, said: "The BTEC exam was introduced as part of a national programme to increase the standards of taxi drivers.

"As an authority that has the benefit of a healthy tourism trade, we feel that our taxi drivers act as ambassadors for the town and so it is important to regulate the awarding of licences. We are proud to have been the first authority to make the exam mandatory."

Admin, you reported this situation in an earlier post.

I have to agree with you the council are to blame for issuing the licences to these drivers that do not have the required knowledge of the english langage.

This is why we MUST have a very strict test of english before the drivers get there licence, it's to late after the driver as bought a cab and started working.

I have heard, on the grapevine but can not prove it, of some drivers brothers taking the test for them, because they do not know there way around, or can not speak english good enough to pass the test.

Let us hope that the council in it's wisdom can get it right sometimes, but do not hold your breath.

This report is a news item about a situation in Bourmouth sir and not in Sheffield.

I know that this is a news item from Bournmouth Admin, but this is why we need an english test in Sheffield, to try and stop this kind of situation happening here, sorry for the missunderstanding.

I think that a good english test here in Sheffield would be very good for our trade.