@Bul
Air mauritius is not doing things very differently from quite a few airlines in the world - I would say that they do nearly the same
Let's for the sake of comparison see how airlines recruit in EASA land. In my discussion, I am assuming that the recruitment process is a fair and objective one.
Firstly, all pilots applying for British Airways, Ryanair, Easyjet, etc. have to pass an assessment, whether they have zero or thousands of hours. If the zero-hour guy passes and the 1000-hour guy fails the assessment, the zero-hour guy will be employed. That's how it is. And the above-mentionned companies have a stringent assessment exercise to ensure that they get the best, and there are a lot of zero-hour guys who pass and who are good pilots, and a lot of "experienced" guys who fail.
Secondly, most airlines ask for at least advanced level studies. In USA and Turkey, they are asking for a unversity degree which is a bit too much. But for the British Airways Future Pilot Programme (BAFPP), they specifically ask for advanced maths and physics. Now for the guys who can't fly after having passed the selection, and if the number is that high as you mentionned, then there is something wrong somewhere. A lot of posts above seem to suggest that there is something fishy in the selection - I can't answer that without having all the facts.
Thirdly, MK is doing exactly what all other airlines are doing. BA has launched the BAFPP scheme for 2 years in a row now and will certainly doit for the next year or two. They have said that they will employ over the next 5 years (i.e. that was said 2 years ago) 400 DEP (Direct Entry Pilots) and 400 ab-initio, and there are hundreds and hundreds of pilots in Europe who are looking for a job. One can ask why also they do this instead of giving the chance to all existing pilots.
Having said all that and after having read all the posts above, it would seem that the main thrust of the argument is that there is a perception of unfairness in the selection process.