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Singapore to Set up School for Taxi Drivers
SINGAPORE,
April 30 (News Agencies) - Singapore
will set up a taxi academy later this year where drivers can learn
foreign languages and management skills to diversify their skills and
raise chances of employment, a report said Tuesday, April 30.
Course
fees at the Singapore
Taxi Academy could even be subsidized by the government, The
Straits Times said, quoting its proponent MP Seng Han Thong,
Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
"We
want to help taxi drivers who want to upgrade their skills," said
Seng, who is also an adviser to the city-state's three taxi drivers'
unions.
"When
they acquire management skills, maybe they can even use them to start
their own sidelines," he said.
Drivers
who learn a foreign language can better converse with foreign tourists
and act as guides around the island-republic, a favorite destination
and transit point in Southeast Asia for travelers.
Other
academic classes can be offered to the drivers in coordination with
polytechnics and technical institutes, the report said.
Taxi
driver Vijaya Rao, 52, told the Straits Times he was
looking forward to learning new skills at the school.
"Tourism
is one of our core businesses here, so such courses would really help
me in my work," he said, adding that when he picks up Chinese or
Japanese tourists, other drivers would translate for him.
"It would be useful to know another
language," he said.
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