Actually its not just the basic licence qualification thats dumbed down its the same with the type courses, i did FAA approved a300 course with fed ex it was a joke, three weeks and that covered everything, avionics engines airframe it was like something a first year apprentice would do, compare that to the twelve weeks plus you would spend doing a CAA approved course to cover the b1 and b2 subjects and to top it all the exam was open book !complete farce from start to finish. i think the whole thing goes back to the fact aircraft mechs are considered to be semi skilled in the states at best and the whole licence and training system reflects that standard