>>12
in the absence of absolute theistic controls... culture and 'civil'ization are all that remain as a control mechanism for secular societies
in the broadest sense, the goal of education was never to comb the population for exceptional intellectual potentiality; but rather to increase the average level of the general population, though in doing so, allowing a possible avenue of advancement to the pinnacle of current erudition
once you have entered the system, if you are sufficiently capable and sufficiently willing.. you can reach any level of knowledge currently known to institution, perhaps you may even contribute to this institutional knowledge yourself
in the least, you will be educated to a level of complacent realization which you accurately stated as the primary goal
socioeconomic class is the largest determining factor. public education is highly general and largely delivered apathetically and often incompetently. capitalism states gradation of quality relates to value and therefore "you pay for what you get". government subsidized scholarship programs are what allow highly dedicated and equally capable individuals to advance beyond their class; but it is statistically unlikely for an individual to start their education in a squalid under-funded public school and through sheer will, utilizing self-study, form a comparable knowledge base to privately educated individuals of equal intellect, though certainly it does happen in a minority of cases...
ultimately, if the entire population of earth was equally educated the competition would become unyielding...
long-established disproportionate power, financially or otherwise, would steadily erode and eventually cease to exist. status quo forces are trying to keep such a scenario from occurring within their lifetimes, it is most certainly contrary to their interests