I suspect you are not one of the reasons why it exists. I would guess that the point is that if you give parents the choice (and it is probably up to the paren

I suspect you are not one of the reasons why it exists. I would guess that the point is that if you give parents the choice (and it is probably up to the parents for most of the time) then the parents who decide to forgo schooling are the ones whose children need it the most. It's one of those greater good things. Societies who have mandatory schooling do better than those that don't (regardless of your experience) so societies choose mandatory schooling as soon as they can afford it. I sympathise with the need to play the game in schooling. It is a game, with scores, and refusal to play by the "rules" (social norms, accepting teachers as better) is not well received. However, many find the game worth playing, and high scores to be useful later in life. Some don't, and it sounds like you are one.