Education for mediocrity - preserving the status quo

Why are governments and the elite so determined that universal education should be an education for mediocrity? Why are creativity and curiosity frowned upon? Why is excellence stamped out in the search for what they call 'equality'. The answer is frighteningly simple (c.f. Chomsky - I'll check the reference later). THEY are only interested in maintaining the status quo of a small, rich and powerful elite and a huge uneducated mass they can manipulate into working for them the way THEY want, buying the products THEY want to sell us, fighting the wars THEY want to play at, suffering the poverty THEY want to inflict on us, powerless unthinking consumers of the pap THEY sell us. We are blinded by the mediocre education THEY provide but which we pay for. We are taught NOT to see, NOT to think, NOT to react.