Even a monkey can learn a questionbank by heart.
Compare the level of teaching the ATPL now with 20 years or even 10 years ago:ugh
I fly commercially for 20 years now, and the decline in understanding of aviation subjects is staggering, frightening and very real.
Departures131, from reading your post,it looks that you are the judgemental one, attacking on a personal level instead of giving general remarks.
And no, I do not think that nowadays cadets have to work as hard as before. Standards HAVE gone down due to the pure commercialisation and greed of both JAA(EASA), the Airlines AND the academies.