On 1st January 2008 Switzerland introduced a new qualification requirement for driving instructors: the Advanced Federal Certificate of Higher Vocational Education and Training for Driving Instructors. Training involves qualified assessment of a total of 7 defined skills (modules). These can be taken at one of the approved driving instructor training colleges. Candidates are only admitted to the final examination once they have passed all the modules and upon submission of the relevant certificates. The requirements for obtaining the Advanced Federal Certificate of Higher Vocational Education and Training for Driving Instructors are laid down in a set of examination regulations. The modular training system is enshrined in the Swiss Decree on Driving Instructor Approval and Vocational Training.
This Decree can be found at the following link:
Reasons for and aims of the revised system
The new driving instructor training scheme has been developed to keep pace with the increased requirements drivers are faced with by road traffic today. Previously driving instructor training was designed for road traffic requirements in the middle of the 20th century, but there has been a sea change since then in population mobility, volume of traffic, associated traffic regulations, driver behaviour, car technology, environmental awareness etc. Perceptions on teaching and learning have also moved on and developed in recent years. As efforts have been made to improve road safety, driver training requirements have also increased. The aim of the new driving instructor training scheme is to ensure that future driving instructors are better prepared for carrying out this training.
The new modular training scheme is made up of 7 modules, amounting to a total of 870 hours of training. Each module comprises the required theoretical, practical and practice-related foundations. Candidates have to pass all the modules to obtain the Advanced Federal Certificate of Higher Vocational Education and Training for Driving Instructors. A further module prepares candidates for the final examination, involving teaching two practical and two theoretical driving lessons. The modules are designed to provide prospective driving instructors with the following skills:
Module 1 – Learning Processes:
Candidate instructors learn about the factors influencing learning processes and must be able to create, monitor and evaluate them in an effective and sustainable way.
Module 2 – Communication and Learning Environment:
Candidate instructors are taught about appropriate forms of dialogue and communication and must be able to apply these to create a positive learning environment and establish the ideal relationship between instructor and pupil.
Module 3 – Legal Foundations – Planning and Running Instruction Courses:
Candidate instructors must be able to plan, run and evaluate a course on road traffic law.
Module 4 – Motor Vehicle Technology and Physics – Instruction Planning:
Candidate instructors are provided with a theoretical introduction to motor vehicle technology and must be able to plan training courses and apply these skills to training planning as a whole.
Module 5 – Road Safety Training:
Candidate instructors must be able to provide cogent instruction on the various elements of road safety and to develop and consolidate their pupils’ attitudes towards road safety.
Module 6 – Behaviour in Traffic – Instructional Planning for Practical Driving Lessons:
Candidate instructors must be able to conduct themselves in an exemplary manner under current road traffic conditions, abiding by curre