Quotation on education...

When I am reading a book- any book- I keep a log of quotations that inspire me or cause me to pause to think for a moment (or more). While reading a book for a book group I belong to, I came across the following quotation: 

"A boy is told that the object of his life is to "get somewhere," and that means to get money; that it is up to him to "make good," and that means to make money. From his tenderest years he is submitted to nerve-racking tests of his potential money-making capacity. The school examinations have come to mean that; he must pass well because otherwise he will not get a good job, in other words, a job with a good salary. Education is no longer primarily intended to teach him to serve God, or to enrich his life, but only to give him a passport into the commercial scramble. Many sensitive boys break down under the strain of examinations, not because they are wanting in the knowledge to pass, but because each one they do pass brings them a step nearer to the world of competition, in which, they know instinctively, so much that is fine in them will perish." The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander (originally published in 1944)

This book is a reflection on parts of The Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God. The title of the chapter in this book is "Fiat"- Let it be done.The author, in the prior paragraphs, writes about how money has become the all important, all encompassing item in our lives. We are constantly pushed to have more, do more, make more money. And in that pursuit, something is lost inside all of us. And this begins when we are very young. What is the purpose of our education. Is it to serve God? To guide us along our path to salvation? Or is it to get ahead, make more money, achieve more things than those around us?