In many legacy carriers the ab initio programs used 200 to 300h cadets on equipment like 737, DC-9 for a long time already. However they had a thorough training program in house that took the cadets from scratch to the right seat. It took around 18 months minimum. The company philosophy was taught right from the beginning which made everyone talk the same language with the same sop.
That was safe.
The problems started when some of that training was outsourced, due to higher output demand, or when the new perverted breed of managers started the deadly cost cutting in training, as mentioned above.
Suddenly slightly different sops creeped in and the cheaper FBOs hired less experienced instructors, and the downward spiral started.
That's unsafe.
It is mainly at this point when the fakers appeared (see other thread). The low quality training companies didn't check thoroughly, they only wanted the lump sum for a paper and the less they had to fly, the cheaper for everybody. It went so far, that in India a gal got her license from a school without hangar and aircraft ...... (it belonged to Daddy, a regulator!!!!)
I would suggest that you can still put low timers in the right hand seat. The regulation should however demand, that they are trained IN HOUSE with a rigorously supervised syllabus.
Applicants from outside will still be needed, they pose a serious problem that needs to be addressed.
First it's all about training quality and somewhat compatible sops. They would require a thorough and supervised company screening and transition course.
Second it's even more about logged hours honesty. If you would sum up the logged hours on props and jets in India and similarly unsupervised regions, these countries would have needed to triple their aircraft parks.
I admit that it will be a huge challenge to clean up that Augias stable. The main pressure must come from the press and passenger associations, as the airlines, manufacturers and regulators have very little interest to dig deeper into their pockets, or to pull back their greedy hands.