WJL
Contributor
I shudder to think what would happen if the government ever decided to actively regulate the sport of scuba diving. What if some government agency or bureau told you that by law you had to use a certain type of equipment, or that you had to obey certain limits on where and how you dove? Think about what would happen if this hypothetical agency decreed that everyone had to dive with a backplate and wing, and use a 7 foot hose for their primary. Certain people on this board would rather die than obey. And if the same agency instead decreed that backplate and wing configurations and primaries on long hoses are banned, a whole different crowd of divers would rather die than obey. I think the government should not be involved.
But, it does seem incongruous that under the current system the same person teaching you to dive is the person that issues a "certification" that you have mastered the necessary skills. It's just too easy for an instructor to "certify" students with questionable skills, just to get them diving, and not incidentally, buying gear. As has been hashed out many times in many threads, certain instructors hold students to a higher level of achievement and standards of proficiency than do others. And the instructors who are passionate about diving and turning out skillful students see themselves hurt in the market by competing dive shops that offer cut-rate classes and pass everyone who doesn't drown.
So, what about the idea of having an established standards organization, like ISO, set an objective, testable set of performance criteria for diving instruction? The standard would require that the shop's classes have certain content, and produce students who meet certain defined standards. For example, in a basic open water class, that the students are required to perform certain dive skills, such as removing and replacing the mask, while remaining neutrally buoyant at a certain depth. The dive shop would have to undergo inspection and verification procedures by the standards organization, and then once they did, they could advertise that their classes are, for example, "ISO 9090 Certified". Then, the dive shop could charge more for the certified classes, and explain to new potential divers that their class costs more than the one offered by the shop down the street, because in their class you will learn more and come out with a higher level of skill. If a system like this were in place, then people just getting into diving would have some reason to choose one class over another based on something other than just cost. People choosing dive classes could have an objective standard to use to judge the value of the instruction they are considering purchasing, which is something that doesn't exist now.
I think this could be beneficial to the dive industry. What do you think?
But, it does seem incongruous that under the current system the same person teaching you to dive is the person that issues a "certification" that you have mastered the necessary skills. It's just too easy for an instructor to "certify" students with questionable skills, just to get them diving, and not incidentally, buying gear. As has been hashed out many times in many threads, certain instructors hold students to a higher level of achievement and standards of proficiency than do others. And the instructors who are passionate about diving and turning out skillful students see themselves hurt in the market by competing dive shops that offer cut-rate classes and pass everyone who doesn't drown.
So, what about the idea of having an established standards organization, like ISO, set an objective, testable set of performance criteria for diving instruction? The standard would require that the shop's classes have certain content, and produce students who meet certain defined standards. For example, in a basic open water class, that the students are required to perform certain dive skills, such as removing and replacing the mask, while remaining neutrally buoyant at a certain depth. The dive shop would have to undergo inspection and verification procedures by the standards organization, and then once they did, they could advertise that their classes are, for example, "ISO 9090 Certified". Then, the dive shop could charge more for the certified classes, and explain to new potential divers that their class costs more than the one offered by the shop down the street, because in their class you will learn more and come out with a higher level of skill. If a system like this were in place, then people just getting into diving would have some reason to choose one class over another based on something other than just cost. People choosing dive classes could have an objective standard to use to judge the value of the instruction they are considering purchasing, which is something that doesn't exist now.
I think this could be beneficial to the dive industry. What do you think?