It's always seemed odd to me that we send kids through 12 or 13 years of school, then say that it's university where they're expected to get their critical thin

It's always seemed odd to me that we send kids through 12 or 13 years of school, then say that it's university where they're expected to get their critical thinking skills, exposure to new ideas, and other "mind-expanding" experiences. It's kind of silly, really. For one, it seems an awful waste to not take advantage of 12 or 13 years of opportunity to expose kids to these elements. Secondly, compressing such important experiences into only 4 years seems insufficient, especially given that they are supposed to also be preparing for a vocation during this time and not just "mind expansion". Finally, it's a very expensive time in a kid's educational career. Why wait until then to impart these "soft skills"? Economically (i.e. from an "ROI" perspective), it makes more sense for such an expensive education to focus solely on the skills that would make them viable in the labor market.