There was a lot of valid cricism along those lines in the past. PADI greatly revised its OW course a few years ago, and it amped up the dive planning portion considerably. Students learn about turn pressures for example, and they have to calculate turn pressures for a dive using rule of thirds on the final exam. At the end of the pool sessions, they are supposed to do a "mini-dive" in which they simulate planning a dive independently and then execute it in the pool. With the OW dives, all the required skills are now supposed to be completed in the first three dives. On the fourth dive, students are supposed to plan and execute the dive independently, with the instructor listening in to the planning and then joining them on the dive, intervening only if needed.I'm sure the PADI syllabus covers dive planning, but in the 7 years of running monthly open water training sessions. The normal comment I get from PADI trained divers wanting to gain the BSAC Sports Diver qualification, is "I've never been shown how to plan a dive". Therefore, we go back and do the Ocean Diver theory and practical lessons on dive management. As Sports Divers they will be expected to be Assistant Dive Managers.
There was never a time that students were told to follow a DM or other professional in their dives.