COLUMBIA--During his 20 years teaching driver's education at South Aiken High School, Larry Nelson has seen many parents take time off work to drive their excited teen to the Department of Motor Vehicles to take a beginner's permit test.

It's not uncommon for those teens to fail the first time around.

To help out customers, the DMV is beginning a pilot program at South Aiken High that would allow students within six months of their 15th birthday to take the permit test at school, instead of a DMV office, said agency spokeswoman Beth Parks.

"We're taking it to them, instead of them coming to us," Parks said.

If the student passes, he or she will get a sealed envelope to take to the DMV. The student still must take a parent to present identification and pass the vision test at the agency.

The first tests will be given by local agency administrators at the school. The pilot program will continue until the end of the school year, when DMV officials will review the results, Parks said. The program could be expanded if it is successful.

Florida already has a similar program that allows the test to be given in schools, and Mississippi also is beginning a pilot program, Parks said.

Students had to sign up with their driver's ed instructor to take the test. For the first test, students will spend an hour or two with an instructor going over the South Carolina driver's manual. For the second test, students will take the exam without the class, Nelson said.