Thank you @macchiata, not only for the upvote and resteem but also for the very valid comment ripe with food for thought. :c)

Yes, the education system has been makine some adjustments - but the core of the system has mostly remained the same. The innovations also greater effect later stages of the education process (although technology may have been introduced earlier as a teaching assist).

Exam grading also plays a significant part here. A lot of employers like to look over them as of they are an accurate measure of how qualified a student is. Other employers take them with a big pinch of salt however, having learnt enough that a certification on paper does not necessarily equate to competence, let alone proficiency (again due to the obvious limitations of the testing system).

Your experience with poetry does send me back - although upon the fundamental level it was usually more about reproducing the texts from memory and rattling off related trivia than getting into interpretation. It was merely another silly mandatory aspect of "fundamental" learning in a language.

Whether an exam paper is going to be penalized for thinking for oneself largely depends upon the inclinations and mood of the examiner in question - an opaque process upon which the futures of countless students have been made and broken.

Yes it would be premature to suggest that these problems constitute the lion's share of whats wrong with education (the administrative aspect treated largely with kid gloves) - but it is a start.

There is nothing wrong with writing articles within articles - but I do feel that such is a great opportunity to post actual article posts for yourself as spin-off from this or other articles. :cP Its an excellent opportunity to introduce a new angle.

Thank you again for taking the time to comment! ^_^