Guys (Cardinal & Intruder) - while I totally agree with you on the 'experience' front, (I myself did 6 years mixing single crew and turbobprop before getting on a jet) over here in the UK we do put very low hours pilots straight into the right hand seat of an airbus or 737.
It's by no means a stop gap as it has been going on for many years now - like I said before, it is addressing the weakness's in current courses and tailoring it more for the jump from multi-engine piston to jet FO.
I personally don't agree with sticking someone on a swept wing jet with 250 hours, but it does go on, so I'd rather they be better trained for this than not. . . .