But why? To ensure some status quo by making higher education only available to an existing upper class?
In Germany I have the impression that decreased support for basic ecucation is at least partly connected to the increasingly inversed age pyramid, but that may not be the whole story.
They don’t roll themselves up into a compact ball and lay still when feeling threatened.
Hedgehogs do that.
I have already several times kicked hedgehogs across the lawn in the dark because of this behaviour (involuntarily of course)