England: Liberal education vs. professional education

By the age of 16 the English students should have decided which career they want to aim for since most Universities the students enter focus on Specialisms. Their role in the education system mainly is to prepare the students for vocational demands and how to “make a living” instead of imparting guides for “how to make a life”. Critics of this approach mention the general advantages of a liberal education and refer to the U.S. Universities which don’t expect their students to specialize till they get their degrees after four years of studying. The striving for knowledge and liberal arts should happen for its own sake.