no doubt hands on experience is essential but not every person have extra ordnary ability this is the point that some people need course to learn basics and others not needed.
I personally do believe in Certification. I was working for a large Telecoms company in the Technical Training department and I was told that I needed to get Cisco Certified and run internal data courses. I attended an ICND course and passed my CCNA and within a year a attended all four CCNP courses and also passed my CCNP certification.
Apart from the peices of paper, I did gain a lot from the practical training and it gave me a thirst for more. I have maintained my certifications and also keep myself updated in areas I need to. It sometimes gives customers confidence when you tell them you are certified.
That said, the certification needs to be backed up by practical experience!!
I believe Certification is a good thing, but must be backed up with practical skills. Being an academic does not necessarily make you a good practical engineers. Having said that, a lot of good engineers do have professional certifications such as Cisco, Micorosoft etc.
It all depends, some of them you need to go for session to understand primary details. Some of them are really spend of money. It is actually relies on the course.