Before I start sounding really pedantic, I recognize that at least part of this whole discussion is for the pure fun of it.

It's still not slavery, or even indentured servitude. The teacher's influence and control over you is severely circumscribed. He/she cannot do anything they want with you, they only directly control you for a specified time period each day, their punishments are restricted in scope, and even in school their authority is limited: they can't require you to take your exam naked, for example, or come over and mow their lawn.

As for working hard, that's more a metaphorical definition of slavery than one that could be used in human rights.

I've always found European school systems interesting, in that fairly early on most of them shunt students on to an academic track or a trade school track, usually through standardized testing. It always struck me as efficient at a societal level but rigid and deterministic at the individual level.

I agree that it would be best if the only people in class were people who wanted to be there. But in practice, that would mean schools would mostly be empty. Even in college, I was there mostly because it was expected, not because I really knew what I wanted to learn. And I was a good student throughout my life — well, at least until I discovered alcohol and girls.

Everyone I know who has ever taken adult education classes loves the experience, precisely because everyone in the classroom is paying for the course, and knows exactly what they want to get out of it. But it probably wouldn't be a good idea if we all waited until our mid-30s to get an education.