School vs education

In Protected content , science writer and novelist Grant Allen published his book 'Post-Prandial Philosophy' in which he writes: "One year in Italy with their eyes open would be worth more than three at Oxford; and six months in the fields with a platyscopic [having a wide and flat field of view] lens would teach them strange things about the world around them that all the long terms at Harrow and Winchester have failed to discover to them. But that would involve some trouble to the teacher."
What Schaeffer was actually referring to was the difference between school and education.

Back to Protected content , it seems like kids are spending now more time in school than ever before - in the UK school starts at 4!! Kids are expected to know how to write letters (small and Capital), numbers and even start to read in the last year at the nursery. Add to this after-school activities - sports, arts, extra tuition to prepare them for school and a 4-yr old's agenda starts to resemble that of a CEO's.

So, does more time in school = better education? Or does so much time spent in school interfere with the real education? What is (or has been) your experience in the country(ies) where you live(d)?