Chris,
I understand what you're saying.
First, I must say that anyone who can sleep thru 11 days of training deserves
some kind of award (or the instructor does).
Although I have sat thru portions of some older versions (3.x, 4.5.1) of these courses and they weren't very exciting - but I had practical experience at the time and so the material was nothing new. I also beta-tested the first (4.5.1) cert test. Got a polyester shirt -
woohoo.
Seems to me the training option is not a bad one, especially for folks that can swing it. But maybe it would make sense to require a passing grade on a quiz to get the cert. They still have the same cert exams, and some kind of test-out of the course work, I think. So just more options.
Maybe it does change the value of the cert, but I'm not convinced.
Anyway, it doesn't really matter to me. I am not big on certs. I know lots of folks on JavaRanch are. Maybe I just thought I'd push a couple of JavaRanch Pro-Certification buttons
To me, the important thing is what you know and what you can do, not what papers you have pinned to your cubical wall.
If you have the opportunity to gain knowledge thru training (or thru any opportunity), then grab it. If you can get a piece of paper and a shirt outta the deal then great.
But know that neither the course work nor the test will really tell anyone if you can
apply the knowledge that the paper claims you "learned".