I see public education as a way of alleviating the widening rich-poor divide. Already, more affluent families are giving their children the best opportunities they can, by sending them for well-regarded tuition and enrichment classes. I feel that public education aims to distribute an equitable amount of resources to schools, regardless of whether they are in rich or poor neighbourhoods, thus giving kids from the lower socioeconomic classes a fighting chance. Or at least that’s how I feel about the state of public education in my country - even if meritocracy is more of a lofty ideal than when I was growing up.