> Them there's the fact that, at the age of 10, it's far harder for someone to decide if they want to go on to higher education, or if they're suited to it. Add that to the economic pressures face by many poorer families who won't see a strong benefit from putting their children through 5 or 10 years of elective education, and the number of people attending university would drop, perhaps drastically. A worst-case scenario would have a massive shortage of doctors, lawyers, accountants, architects, ninjas, engineers, teachers... any job that requires education.

Even with high school, the (apparently) most powerful tool in encouraging people to get higher education is experience with normal unskilled labor. It's not usually enjoyable, nor particularly remunerative. I doubt that would change if people stopped going to high school.

Apprenticeships might work out very well as a replacement for high school. At least, I think I would have enjoyed learning some technical trade instead of attending a worthless high school. Plus, if I still chose to go into engineering, it would have provided a valuable head start.