Is this a reasonable request, or am I being stupid?

[FourArms]

I went for an interview last week for a job with a company that runs afterschool clubs. I'm currently a SAHM, so am free between 9 and 3. However, if I do any work outside of these times then obviously I'd have to put my DSs in some form of paid childcare.

The interview went fine, and I was told they'd be in touch re training days etc at a later date.

I emailed them yesterday to ask for details of training days and observation days. They replied with dates for training and observation of other instructors. They said I could do as many observation days as I chose as they were unpaid. I replied that was fine, but that I presumed that the training day would be paid. The place where the training is taking place is about an hours drive from where I live. The reply was that because they've had so many people start, but not continue after training, that they don't pay for training time any more.

I'm not really sure what to do. I'm not massively bothered about being paid for my time, as the kids are at school anyway, but are they taking the p*ss? It's something I'd be interested in doing for personal enrichment (is that the right phrase?) anyway, and I wouldn't mind doing it as a voluntary thing, but since the company is obviously doing this to make a profit, I feel a bit about it all.

So, what do other people think?

Hi FourArms, Well done for doing a good interview.
IN response to your question, I think it depends on how much you want to do it. If it is a day's trianing that you will benefit from, and enjoy - could that be considered enough of a reward? Particularly if it contributes to you doing a job that you wish to do.
However, I would be interested in the reasons why so many people aren't continuing after the training though - that would be the area of concern for me.
Good luck with it all

Hmmm, good point! I might ask them about that.

Just to stick in the employers point of view, I worked in a beauty salon and offered paid training. Lots of girls came to observe, then be trained, then leave and work from home. So effectively taking my training with no intention of working for me. Eventually I stopped offering paid training too. The number of girls dropped, but the ones that stayed truly wanted to do the job.