I think the issue here is not about the relevance of the exam but the fact it appears casa have changed something recently that has resulted in an abnormal fail rate. If this is the case they need to explain what has changed so providers of the training can adapt the training to suit.
Does anyone actually know if the increased failure rate is just AFT or is it across all people sitting the exams???
If the increase applies to everyone it would remove the aspersions re AFT, and suggest either some dud exams or the changes to the exam criteria have not gotten through to the candidates.