[jonp888]

Except for a small percentage of the population who have coordination problems or find driving extremely stressful, operating a gearbox is not something which extends the length of driver training.

It takes far longer to learn how to navigate traffic situations and maneuvers than to learn how to change gear. Driving standards in the UK are high and a single error when changing lanes or negotiating a junction can result in a test failure.

[prisoner655321]

Hm. Not sure how it could be the case that not learning something takes the same amount of time as learning something. Can you think of any more examples of this? It would be great if I could learn those things; even if never have a use for it, it’s literally free.

[s1artibartfast]

Concurrent learning is the answer that you are looking for. Many activities take a certain amount of time but not 100% constant focus.

If it takes 10 hours of road driving to get comfortable and 2 hours to get comfortable with stick, you could do them both at the same time.