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Frightening isn't it? By the time a kid is 18, she's spent 1/3 of that time sleeping and another 1/4 in school, and when the Big Exam is over at 17/18...she still has no real marketable skills. But...an "under-educated" kid from school can still get a decent job - only because in countries like Australia there the division of labour is extensive as well as intensive, and there is so much wealth around, such that the capitalist economy can support employment for even people with the lowest skill sets. And in boom times like today, wages have been bid up to premium prices. The "weakest" members of society have never had it so good! Try getting a job (never mind a decent job) ex-school in a place like Rwanda or N E Thailand/Laos where there is little division of labour and only a tiny amount of wealth. I have my doubts on whether the "Prussian Model" (see Jefferson's post) will disappear on a national scale. State education not only has the power of the state behind it, it is also supported by political (as distinct from "market") democracy.
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