Driving could be the most important means of earning an income when living matter abroad. In many states, life would come a screeching halt without a car. For an immigrant, getting a driver’s license is as important as finding a job.

Before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, there were no complexities to getting a learner’s driving permit or obtaining a driver’s license. After, the situation changed. Now, the process of obtaining a learner’s permit is tough with the applicant facing all sorts of restrictions.

According to different driving schools in New York, the number of students enrolled in driving schools has decreased over the years. One driving school owner told Bangla Patrika that before he used to run four cars, but now he runs only two cars.

Last year, a student could take the driving tests one after another. But now, if the student fails the driving test twice, the student has to obtain a permission to take tests by depositing $10 at the motor vehicles office. Unfortunately, if one fails the next two tests, the student has to get another permit by depositing $10 for two more tests. In this connection, Md Mohsin, owner of Platinum Driving School, said that even those students who are legal resident don’t show up for test due to the unfriendly system.

“Most of the driving schools distribute 104 questions for the examination to get a learner’s permit,” Mohsin said, adding that any one can pass the examination, if the student reads these carefully.

But he said that as the number of new immigrants decreases, the number of learners has also decreases.

Md a Rahim, owner of popular driving school said the number of newly admitted students has decreased as compared to before. He said that the restriction in issuing a learner’s permit is the main reason.

Delwar Hossen Milton, president of the A Plus Driving School, points out that the proliferation of driving schools has reduced the average number of students in a school.

According to Milton, the number of driving schools has increased with the growth of the community. Now the Bangladeshi-run schools are also drawing the students from Nepal, the Philippines and other Asian countries.