As an civilian (to PPL level) then latterly military trained pilot I often wonder why there is so much concern about full stall/spin practice and recovery training. It certainly never used to be so much a controversial subject when everyone was required to do it as part of the PPL syllabus.
A few accidents much as with single engine training in multis resulted in the authorities concluding the risk reward equation was better served if it was removed from the syllabus.
Probably some instructors were not up to the task or not up to the task in the aircraft made available to them. It is one of those skills that 80% of the time will go to plan, but from an instructional view includes the potential for the student to put the aircraft into a spin in an unusual way. It is also not unknown for the student to freeze on the controls requiring the instructor to take appropriate action, not always so easy in a tandem aircraft.
Personally I understand the fear. The fear stems because you have no real idea what will happen until you spin (for real), and even then it is one of those things for most that is still disconcerting. I think it takes most pilots two or three sessions to feel half comfortable with spinning. The way in which an aircraft spins also varies significantly between aircraft.
I am in two minds whether or not it should be in the PPL syllabus. Part of the reason is I am not sure simply demonstrating a spin achieves a great deal - as I said earlier short of a few lessons I think a couple of demonstrated spins could make some pilots more, not less nervous, and I doubt is enough to significantly improve their chances of recovering should they inadvertently enter a spin a year or two later having done no spinning between times.
However I am in no doubt that it is very worth while having some more comprehensive spin training at some point post PPL.