The purpose of education is manifold. Literacy and employment are its primary aims. Another purpose is to make students capable of living their lives fully at all levels of their personalities. They should be able to face the numerous challenges of life and carve out a purposeful future for themselves.
At yet another level, the purpose of education is to groom students in noble cultural values. In the absence of this culture, knowledge itself and material prosperity can become a weapon of destruction instead of a means of blessing to humanity.