Childhood, education and mastery

In ancient times, and due to the high infant mortality rate, the age for integrating the school was around six years old. Past that age, the chances of survival were high enough for the parents to invest in the education of a kid, who would live long enough to return the favor.
In villages and remote areas, kids usually start working at a very early age and become independent around the age of thirteen, taking care of the parents, owning cows, sheep, and sometimes small patches of land.
Early in their lives, they start an apprenticeship that would last anywhere from five to ten years.
The first months would consist for example in running errands, cleaning the workshop, or arranging the tools.
As time goes by, the tasks grow in complexity as the interns start to familiarize themselves with the craft.
The fact that they can't read, nor write, affords them a certain amount of freedom when taking bold decision quickly, as they are not hindered by the learned over-analysis and its side effects that include stalling action or even worse, inaction.
As they become older, towards the end of their adolescence, the most astute of these kids would have acquired enough capital and expertise to be able to venture on their own if they feel the need to enough.

The superior value and role of apprenticeship over dry rote learning of information dispensed in confined, cramped spaces we call classroms is uncontested when it comes to developing mastery and supoeriotity in any field of eadeavour.