In its Latin origin, education means "leading out." Strictly speaking, education is about developing a person's potential, helping them to discover the abilities that they have and giving them the tools to use them. In the late medieval Renaissance, a distinction used to be made between a "liberal" and a "servile" or "mechanical" education. A liberal education was about culture, created a civilised and learned person, while a mechanical education was closer to what we would nowadays call training; teaching specific practical skills, to be used for specific and limited purposes. Traces of this distinction can still be found in Britain and other countries, though in Britain it is less clear since the decline of the grammar/ secondary modern school system. This system advocated "education" (ie, culture) for a minority and "training" (practical, often manual skills) for the rest. In Germany, for instance, a similar system to this one is still practised, though the aim is to provide a broader grounding for all students.
