As someone who found their path earlier than most, and has a bit of the protestant work ethic I see the appeal. However, there's two problems to this that I can

As someone who found their path earlier than most, and has a bit of the protestant work ethic I see the appeal. However, there's two problems to this that I can see: First, most folks do not know what they wish to be from a reasonably young age. For the longest time I thought I wanted to be a geologist, probably until about high school, despite having discovered computing at an early age. Funny enough, I never really recognized that I could turn programming into a career. To me it was just something fun that I did. Consider the trope of the college kid who goes to school to find themself, bounces around majors, and graduates late. I know some nations have success tracking students earlier, but that is usually around the high school timeframe at best. Part of early education is setting the foundation and teaching one how to learn. This reduces the amount of years available for "Doogie Howser" self-study down to only four or so, plus an additional three or four for higher learning. Second, even if someone "knows" what they want to do I think many don't necessarily have the drive and resilience for self-guided study and the associated struggle. Many need the structure, and "hand-holding" that comes with a normal classroom. Additionally, some see value in the "well rounded" model of education and so depending on what you want to be it may or may not make sense. Having been of the "I speak English, why study it" school of thought, well, I'm sure this "essay" and the comma atrocities therein speak for itself. Just imagine if I had spent even less time in an English course. If we wanted a more utilitarian society of technicians this would be a good idea, but there are many facets to education besides occupation.