Posted by Deetj on October 19, 2000 at 18:04:12:
In Reply to: Re: Someone said governing body... (shudder) posted by Other Ben on October 18, 2000 at 15:45:48:
We can pretty much forget about there being cross-agency cooperation and uniform standards. This is how they differentiate themselves from each other. Unlike a VCR or a CD player where you can claim higher fidelity or VCR+ as selling points, NAUI, PADI, SSI etc. claim their programs are unique to get students to take their courses.
An astute person would research the instructor and pick the class based on the person who will be teaching them. However, we all know that is not the case, people make their decisions on issues more like "how long will it take?" and "how much will it cost?" instead of "How well will I learn to protect my life while enjoying myself underwater?"
Personally, I am diabetic, and, whatever you might think of diabetics diving, I looked high & low to find someone who not only would teach me but was also excited to learn about the effects of my condition on a diver (coincidently - a PADI instructor). BTW - I'm in better shape than almost all the instructors I met - you would not believe what one fat, ignorant instructor said to me when I asked if he would take me as a student..."Well, what is you have a candy bar and die underwater?" Yes...he really said this.
I guess what I'm getting at is that as much as we would like to see everyone come out of their training with the same set of skills, the various agencies will never come to a consensus, because they fear for their market share.