But this boils down to initially defining the "purpose" of education. The US can't even agree on what the purpose of education is. Many see it as you do - broaden minds and encourage thinking. Many others see it as life-skills 'training' designed to teach adult survival skills. Still others think education should point specifically, and directly to work, or, in other words, be 'job-skills' based.

We don't even have a clear understanding of what is best, nor do we have an agreement on when each serves its best purpose. The whole thing is a mess.

Just the USA? Humanity has differences on the purposes of education. For example, should education only be for men? In some parts of the world, yes.

>The whole thing is a mess.

Then let's use different terms to refer to the reality of these differences. Here's a first crack:

Educating includes broadening minds and encouraging thinking.

Training includes the dictation of knowledge and application of specific skills.

Learning "life-skills" is a specific but important part of training.

All educating includes training, but not all training includes education.

The terms "education" and "training" are often conflated and should not be.