Education and schools

A new Dear Colleague Letter from Yi Fu Tuan just came out, and in it he describes how schools were originally religiously oriented ("outposts of monasteries and convents") where people were separated by gender, and drabbed in uniform, and how this seeming uniformity was offset by the religious teachings that each person was a unique creation in the world. He then says that this was to free the pupils from social pressures so that they could devote themselves wholeheartedly to their studies. He then contrasts this with the current day American public schools and universities, and concludes that "In this respect, we humans are moving closer to our cousins the apes and chimpanzees."

I'm curious to hear what you guys think. I think this view of our current education system has been growing in me for a while, so it would be nice to have a debate.