The problem with bringing in "experienced aerodrome controllers" is just that , we are aerodrome and approach controllers ,very few of us these days have an area rating. So yes you are probably correct in saying that we are more likely to validate than those straight out of the college ,but it is not a short term fix.
Aerodromes also cannot afford to lose experienced controllers.
In the short term bringing in ATCOs from abroad seems the most obvious solution, but do they really want to work within a company suffering major morale problems within its operational staff, with the threat of industrial action from the support staff, and management who would appear to have had their heads buried in the sand for the last few years.
And can any one tell me why we are having to hold students going through the college for several months, making their training very disjointed. Is the difficulty training them on the shop floor ?