Never Turn into The Dead Engine?

[letMfly]

After a recent ATCO's radar validation board, I was horrified to learn that the candidate had never heard of turning into dead engines and was never taught the "correct" handling technique at his college. The phraseology for EFATO used to be " turn left or right heading (reciprocal), advise direction of turn". This obviously gives the pilot the option of which way to manouvre and gets the aircraft positioned downwind for a tight circuit if required. I appreciate that high performance or three/four engined aircraft may not need to return quickly, but standard handling of such incidents caters for the worst case scenarios. ie underpowered pistons or engine fires.
On checking with several colleagues, it appears that a fair proportion have never been taught this technique and would base the direction of turn on factors such as avoiding built up areas etc.
Any comments from pilots or ATCOs would be welcome.