Helpful as usual! (Not.)
OP I understand that you wanted to know if it was legal for your employer to make you pay for the course, and if it would be legal for your employer to fire you if you refused. And while I'm sure Raster's wide-ranging responses were entertaining, they never actually addressed what you wanted to know.
So here are your answers: yes and yes. I know that sucks but it sounds like you already know your employer is pretty sucky. Now they're just giving you an example of how much suckier they can get.

