It's meaningless to talk about what education was "intended" to be, because it varies from society to society, and changes over time. In general, we as a society decide what it is intended to be about.

But if you are going to look at history, then why not go all the way to the root of the modern Western academia - where the word itself originates?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonic_Academy

On one hand, it was indeed about learning just for the sake of learning. But on the other hand, it also didn't have degrees, positions, tenure, or any other attributes of a formal hierarchy.

And note that it was something that people did aside from gainful employment (or other source of income). Which means that it was closed to most, not even because they weren't welcome there, but because they didn't have the free time to devote to learning for the sake of learning.

Could we revive the Academy today, free for everybody? Sure, but I don't think this would solve any of the problems with "bullshit degrees".