How to judge the education is effective or ineffective? This is not easy to get a standar answer.
The answer may not be one or two words. However, the effective education must consider the individual needs and be good for their development.
It is good to design individual study plan which may guide the learner study better. However, the education resource is not limitless and the individual study plan is unpractical. In China, many children in remote country have no chance to receive compulsory education for economic reason. Even Some rich area such as the Yangtse River Delta, haven't enough education resource to meet everyone's needs. Generally, there are 40 to 50 students in a class to study the same lessons in elementary and middle school.
Our society need the members not only understand one field but other correlative field, for the progressing of the knowledge combine many subjects together, if someone only study in one or two fields he interested in, he will not has a comprehensive view about the whole structure of the field he interested in, this is bad for him to improve his ability. The modern science often combine many subjects, multiplex knowledge structure is needed now. Many great scientists not only good at his field but also have deep understanding of other domain.
Sometimes, one can not found what is his true interesting. He thought that he was interesting in painting before meeting photography. Maybe he is a potential genius as a photographer. If the education just catered to his first interesting, he would not have a chance to set foot in photography. General education bring him wide view, he would cognize himself more clearly and found what is better chosen as him interesting. In this aspect, general education can help the specifically education.
In sum, unless general education is good acting, I concede that specifically designed education can be truly effective. Interesting is the best teacher, so when we arrange education resource the individual needs should be considered, some course and project must be supplied. But only specifically education is not enough and unpractical. General education is the foundation. The effective education is a good education not only supply specifically plan but meet most of the students' need which supply the good general education.