I would say that more than a few shops have just such an attitude. As the training director for the shop where I formerly worked said, "Instructors are a dime a dozen." He had someone new coming in about once every other week looking for work. Every one of them was capable of doing what was necessary in OW instruction--certify a diver who can go on group trips and buy equipment. An instructor who pushes for more than that is a troublemaker who should be replaced by someone who will not rock the boat.But some shops make more money if they pack 8 students to 1 instructor. Shops are rewarded for churning through as many students as possible without proper training. My question is, how do we stop this?
I am of the opinion that such a viewpoint is shortsighted. If a diver finishes a class with a justified feeling of confidence in both diving skill and diving safety, that diver is more likely to continue diving, meaning more equipment being bought and more trips being taken. When I was doing my IDC, I did some of the open water dives in Key Largo. On one memorable dive, I saw an incredibly overweighted woman literally crawling on the sand floor. The look on her face showed her misery. That was a diver who will quit at the first opportunity. I swore than that my students would never look like that.