Virus impact takes toll on driving schools

AMMAN — In mid-March, when the government started the lockdown and prohibited driving, driving schools were impacted as much as the other sectors suffering from the economic impact of the crisis, a statement from the Phenix Centre for Economic Studies said Thursday.

Owner of a driving learning centre Musa Al Asha told the Jordan Labour Watch (JLW), affiliated with the centre, that he has four centres, 35 cars and 55 employees who receive JD8,000 in total as salaries, in addition to paying JD450 to license each car.

“The driving instructors who work for me have not been paid since March, and I went to the bank to ask for a loan with interest as determined by the Central Bank of Jordan, but have not gotten anything so far,” Asha told the JLW, according to the statement.

President of the Jordanian Association for Driving Schools, Ibrahim Al Abdallat, said: “The centres are going through a difficult time as financial dues have been accumulating, making their workers also experience difficult conditions.”

“Teachers at the centres have different categories; some work on commission, some have monthly salaries and some are paid per hour,” Abdallat told the JLW, adding that “as a result of this crisis, most workers and trainers will be laid off”.

“There is a very important issue here, which is the fact that only around 30 per cent are subscribed to the Social Security Corporation, while 30 per cent are above 60 years of age and 20 per cent are retired military personnel,” the statement cited Abdallat as saying.

There are 185 driving schools around the Kingdom, which include 2,670 instructors and workers, and around 1,700 training vehicles, according to figures cited from the association in the statement.