if we're talking about the problem of student not really learning because we're memorizing more than understanding, then I'd say the problem isn't really about our education system per se but also the society. This exam oriented education that we have today has lots of pro and cons

the thing about exam is that it is tangible, can be seen and gauged by everyone. The parents want it because it is a proof that either their child has done something in school or the school has been doing their job. Teacher needs it to see whether his pedagogy worked or not and whether he should change into something else. The administration needs it to administer their teachers.

on its own, our curricular and exam is GOOD, but the overemphasize on exams and wrong emphasis of the curricular is BAD. With the parents and administrator racing to collect As, students are shoved with information and required to just vomit everything out again during exam. Just for the As, whether they understand or not does not matter.

I'm taking TESL myself and I find the fact that literature classroom in our country is very sad indeed. Literature is supposed to be appreciated and not dissected into points of data per se.

however I'm not against our system of education, I do believe that almost all the subjects offered in our primary and secondary school isn't that bad. I doubt that a child would know what to learn at such early a stage in their life. I consider education really starts at tertiary education because only then would a child know his/her path. If everyone would just drop the obsession with the exams in school, our school isn't that bad at all I'd say. At least teachers are able to do more than teaching with less stress and observation from the higher ups.

get rid of the exam obsession I'd say.

the purpose of education hasn't change, it is the people that changed. All of the complaints that you brought forth are caused by the people rather than the education system.

We need school, it is the place where children are gathered, its the place to learn about socializing, it is organized, it has rules and it has superiors. Without schools how easy would it be to expose a child to a great number of kids of their age? Socializing, organizations, rules and superiors are all parts of life that must be learn. Its not all about the academic per se.

no one is saying that school is the only way to gain knowledge, you're assuming things. Parents, society, library or even the internet are all source of knowledge. But there are many restriction such as time and accessibility which put all these other options aside. If school is abolished to make way for these alternatives, what of those without access to it? You'd screw them up just like that?