The best of education will not spoon-feed people, but will recognise what talents and skills people have, help them to develop those and enable them to get where they need to go themselves through, as you put it, their own "individual effort".
Totally disagree. I and my wife both went to Grammar Schools. Our Children, now aged 33 and 31 both had a far better and more balanced education than we ever had. My wife, who is now a very senior manager in education (at Further Education Level) would maintain thaat the old grammar school...