This may be nit picking, but I think that education itself is not an intrinsic good. Understanding, knowledge, wisdom, etc. are all things that I hold intrinsically valuable, and are all attainable by education. Though, if these things are all what you mean by the word "education" then yes, I completely agree that there is intrinsic value in education.
Why do we build space telescopes? Why do we build particle accelerators? Why do we fund philosophers? Why do we fund theoretical mathematicians? Yes, there is a potential for these things to generate extrinsic value, but it is very low. I think the simpler reason to fund these things and people, is because many people find the knowledge and understanding they generate to be intrinsically good.
This may be nit picking, but I think that education itself is not an intrinsic good. Understanding, knowledge, wisdom, etc. are all things that I hold intrinsically valuable, and are all attainable by education. Though, if these things are all what you mean by the word "education" then yes, I completely agree that there is intrinsic value in education.
Why do we build space telescopes? Why do we build particle accelerators? Why do we fund philosophers? Why do we fund theoretical mathematicians? Yes, there is a potential for these things to generate extrinsic value, but it is very low. I think the simpler reason to fund these things and people, is because many people find the knowledge and understanding they generate to be intrinsically good.