I remember back in the mid '80's at a major flying training conference it was suggested that around 750 hours should be aquired prior to starting an instructor rating. It was howled down by some of the senior CFIs claiming the supply of instructors would dry up. Cr@p. It was pure commercial interest that they did not want such a change. Sure the number of 200 hr instructors would dry up, but what would then pop out of the system at a later date would be much better as a result. How you can expect someone to teach something they have only just learnt is beyond me (except perhaps with very strict supervision). It does not seem to occur in any other field? Yes the chopper world have a higher hours requirement for instructiong and there are still instructors.
Yes, a three month course at a Uni style school would be good. The standard should improve and they might be able to teach!
Whats more important? The viability of training schools or the standards of the pilots that are trained.
I happen to believe that the number of CPL schools should be significantly reduced - say around 25 nationally. All the others should just do PPLs/NVFRs etc