Let me start by saying, for those of you that don't know, that I am no longer associated as an instructor or as a school with the
IICRC. The training I do is outside of any of either the
IICRC's structure or what ICRA intends to offer.
I think its a testimony to the quality of instructors out there that are associated with the
IICRC that the training has been as effective as it has been. I've seen cleaners do better with the knowledge they gained (whether or not they passed, and whether or not they remembered some of the information that might not seem to have practical value) and as a result have more rewarding employement or self employment experiences in the industry.
I say that because the model of trying to "force feed" a variety of subjects from chemistry, fiber characteristics, construction, physics, procedures, and problem solving in 14 hours in only two days is a daunting task for students and for instructors.
Something different needs to be tried. I strongly believe that more preparation is needed before cleaners attend a class, whether it be prestudy of written material, or better yet, on line learning. I also see value in follow up training with more structure than the current "CEC" program. That said, it costs money to do that, and I'm not sure the majority of cleaners would be interested in such a program that might move the cost of the class an additional decimal point.
The assessment program that ICRA is discussing has interested me, and so have this groups response to it. If you think of it, its really the job of the company owner to do this assessment of their employees before they send them to class. I think that its a mistake to think you can take a cleaner and just send him in for a "training shot" and expect great results. As I said in the beginning, its a testimony to the instructors that are out there that any real meaningful learning happens at all when people are sent in with zero preparation.
So in my opinion, the assessment is worth the 150.00 if the owner of the company can't see fit to assess and pretrain their own employees. The program as I understand it does want to use veteran cleaners as the assessors instead of trainers and/or suppliers, so it does allow for some important grass roots industry participation, which I consider to be a positive move.
My bottom line remains this:
1. Training is important, and the more we and/or our employees know about what we are supposed to be doing out there, the better.
2. Asking any trainer to "do it all" in a couple of days isn't reasonable, and defies everything that is known about the learning experience, especially with a task that is very hands on and technical in nature.
3. Its the responsibility of the owner operator to prepare for such training ahead of time, and the owner sending an employee has the responsibility to pretrain, prepare, and assess the qualifications of his/her employee to participate in the learning experience as is currently being offered. Whether or not the ICRA model and cost suit that particular cleaner's needs is up to him to assess.
4. When I have the perfect answer that will suit everyone and please everyone, I promise to let you know.....don't hold your breath....