Addressing persistent driving lesson shortages and off-peak pricing pressures at driving centres

Question:

Ms Elysa Chen: To ask the Senior Minister, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs (a) to the Ministry's knowledge, what factors have contributed to persistent lesson slot shortages at driving centres; and (b) whether LTA will work with driving centres to consider measures to expand instructor capacity or ease weekend and off-peak pricing pressures for students seeking timely access to lessons.

Answer:

Mr K Shanmugam, Senior Minister, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs:

1. Wait times to secure lesson slots at the driving schools are driven by high demand from learners, and supply factors such as the availability of driving instructors and circuit space.

2. To improve lesson supply, Traffic Police (TP) has permitted the employment of foreigners as driving instructors. As of August 2026, there are 905 instructors across the three driving schools, up from 865 instructors in 2025. Driving schools have also opened additional weekend lesson slots and deployed additional training vehicles. TP will continue to work with the driving schools on additional measures to improve lesson availability.

3. Under the Road Traffic Rules, fees charged by driving schools for instruction must be considered fair and reasonable by TP. This includes enrolment, theory and driving lesson fees.