Gurukul

Interesting: https://www.facebook.com/chitra.jha/posts/10152379417964513

A friend said about Gurukul: "That Gurukul idea us very good.  It explains the reason why life is a bigger teacher than schools.. we mix with all ages and learn more than in the ways school teaches"

My belief: It's useful for learning without being taught. And for slow learners or for those who aren't fascinated by the subject. it may not be useful for those who love the subject and who want to be on a fast track to learn it. Imagine 30 years back Sachin Tendulkar and me and 20 others were in the same cricketing Gurukul. (I hardly know how to play the game). After completing the Gurukul, I think I would have become a better cricketer while Sachin would perhaps have been trying hard to even get into the Bombay team.

Friend's response: "I think.. Gurukul should be a place of freedom of choice. All preschools could be like that..and specialized schools take over when talent was recognized and needed to be pursued."

I agree with this. A Gurukul should be a place where heterogeneity (rather outliers) is a non goal. If the SD (standard deviation) varies too much what I said earlier is likely to happen. We will produce a lot of mediocrity and few outliers. Outliers being people like Sachin (extremely good) and me (very poor).
A Gurukul is a place which is a homogenizing pot. The poor (in skills) want homogeneity. The rich would not. Gurukul is another form of socialism or communism.