Joe: Agree and disagree. Agree in that some centers will give meaningless certifications. However, this is not true of all instructors and all centers. For instance, I am currently a PADA divemaster and had to complete an internship for an entire year with my certifying intructor which included working with students from all levels of classes as well as dive experience and theory. While working with open water students, the instructor I worked with refused to sign off anyone until they fully mastered the skills. Some dropped out and some continued and as long as the individual student was committed to learning, they could keep coming back until they mastered the skill regardless of class schedule. I`ve seen some go through several class groups before finally succeeding.