Well in my case it's a case of I'm pretty good at this shit so my employer wants me to be qualified. They are not able to teach me anything as I'm the one with the highest level of knowledge due to practical experience and my employer being mechanical orientated but this is the only option open as I am in work already and can study this from home. I tend to learn a lot from trying to solve a problem and getting over the new hurdles, often with the help of this forum.
Sounds good: make the best of the opportunities available to you!
I have had to deal with a subcontractor in the past who supposedly had employees with post graduate degrees but could not "reason" very well and there produced poor results. Studying and passing in exams or by assignments does not make you competent / clever you have to have a passion for it and interest, if you do it just to earn money you won't be very good generally.
And I've seen many people that don't know the fundamental theory, and so make outrageous impossible claims. Competence and incompetence can be found everywhere.
There are strong and useful parallels between engineer:technician and doctor:nurse. Every new engineer/doctor with any sense
knows that they rely heavily on the technicians/nurses on the team. And that
partnership should continue as they gain experience.
Nowadays, quite reasonably, nurses are taking over more or the routine work previously done by doctors - and are probably doing a better job. But a nurse that beileves they know more than a doctor is a liability. And the same is true for a doctor that believes they are better than a nurse.
Each has their own skills and limitations - and the same is true for engineers and technicians. Vive la difference!