Firstly, I disagree about opposite switch direction. Having flown the same type with some switches ON/UP and on a different reg the same functions OFF/UP, I can tell you that many colleagues, and myself, made mistakes. Unlike the perfect people who insist on posting here.
Secondly, a question. Why did the Ethiopian B737 in this case keep accelerating? At 1000 ft AGL, in VMC, it is simple to see that the a/c is accelerating, without reference to instruments. (Maybe not for the FO, drastically inexperienced as he/she was).
I believe the training, regulatory and operating standards vary widely around our world. Just because every country has a CAA or equivalent, does not mean they are all able to adhere to the same standards. Most of us know that they do not. Most of us are just worried about the usual easily-voiced criticisms of nationalism, racism and the like, so we do not express our opinions.
Smaller, and less developed countries are unable to produce sufficient nationals to train or to operate complex jets to the same standards as the bigger, more developed countries. The accident stats bear this out.