Maybe someone else will chime in that knows more than I do, but to my knowledge, we’re the only license mill country that is allowing people other than flag state certified instructors to sign off on STCW skillsets.
You also assume that we want the additional responsibility of signing off people that our offices send us for one hitch in order to be signed off. I’ve got enough responsibility on my plate as Master without having to worry if the yokel I just signed off will retain any of the knowledge I forced him to demonstrate as he/she complained the whole time that I should just sign him off and be done.
No, close the loophole (that’s what it is, a loophole pure and simple). It doesn’t hurt hawsepipers any more than it does academy grads by the way. Both are equally on the hook for the courses. So can the “woe is me, the world is against me because I’m a hawsepiper” bullshit and accept that you’re on equal footing for that Chief Mate exam. Hell, the ringknocker network is probably even more in action with signing off assessments just because they went to the same school. You should be against it too!!
Furthermore, those cadets are paying for those courses too. It’s not free unless they’re at that waste of taxpayer and MARAD funds called King’s Point. So adjust your thinking and realize that the courses actually level the playing field for all.