"Education is primarily a personal matter; it has little to do with school or college."
Even the object of education is very individual, education itself composes of personal education, school education, family education and so on. So I do not agree with the statement. School or college plays an important role in a person's education.
Obviously, students may gather professional guide in school or college. A large number of professors employed by universities will be pleasure to provide professional experience, especial knowledge and effective learning methods. Moreover, professors' research usually is an in-depth study in a certain subject. Yet these advantages are valid in schools or colleges merely. For example, compared with reading works of physicists or searching information online, listening to Hawking's lecture is much more effective to dive into the world of theoretical physics. Further, a one-on-one academic communication with a professor helps students benefit a great deal. A Chinese saying "A great teacher produces a brilliant student" suggests the importance of professors.
It was noteworthy that schools or colleges offer advanced education resource to students. They receive financial appropriation from government and donation from companies every year. So that, students can experiment with expensive implements and do research without concerning the fund. For instance, nobody will build a sterile room in his/her house, while it is possible to do experiments in universities. Not only professional thesis can be searched in the digital database, but the library offers millions of works that only education institutions can collect. After all, we cannot lend a professional work on nuclear fusion in the public library. Probably, students would be sent to visit nuclear industries, which is hardly possible for an individual.
Another reason that schools and colleges are indispensable is that, they provide a good learning atmosphere. Many kinds of study associations develop well in high schools or universities. Students learn from each other and correct defects. Nowadays, having a study partner is ordinary; Even study team is becoming more and more popular. Not only traditional "English Corner" (language study team) remains hot but also new associations including academic ones are very active. All of those encourage students to work hard and fetch further progress, which is positive and helpful.
Admittedly, education is primarily a personal matter in a way. It need a personal firm determination, long time personal hard working and personal peaceful mind to failure and frustrations. Take Benjamin Franklin as an example, he learned to read and write without attending any schools because of poverty. His achievement was owed to his assiduity of many yeas since he was a child. Bora Milutinovic's saying "Attitude is everything" emphasizes the personal attitude. All of above tends to the fact that education depends on personal activities but those do not mean school and college are useless. In fact, the contribution of schools and colleges can not be replaced.
It might be absurd to talk about a personal education regardless of schools or colleges. As an indispensable part of education, they should not be ignored.