Unfortunately, for some governments, societies, schools or teachers, it is not in their interest for the student to be critical, to have an opinion, to be able to discern and argue. A critical person is a citizen who is difficult to handle, to manipulate. That is why in some schools, as you say, more memorization is promoted, repetition like parrots talking or scratched disc. A person who questions his reality is a person who is able to transform his world, to do it better. Well, we should also see what kind of teachers are training our young people. Maybe they're not critical either and they're just memorizers. The snake that bites its tail!