Anything thas has ever been acheived in human history has been done by specialists. Writers, Artists, Engineers, Politicians, Lawyers, Generals, Doctors, Sportsmen - all these and so many more are specialized fields. In order to acheive anything the 'all-rounder' has to choose his field by the time he graduates from high-school. Those who dont are not able to capitalize on any skill that they might have. If you think about it than being an 'all-rounder' is really being a 'jack of trades'.

At the present moment much of western world's education - especially in the America's is about developing 'all-round' students. They are those who excel in multiple things in life. The truth is that most all-round students dont really excel in any field in their life. It might seem to their parents, teachers and peer in their early life that they are exceling in multiple fields. But in reality the number of people who see this happening is only a small cross section of society. For those 'all-rounders' to succeed in any field they to overcome the wrath of the 'specialists' who are much more solely focused on the task at hand unlike the 'all-rounders' who have to juggle several things continuously. In the end you wont see any 'all-rounder' in any field. That is, you wont find a mathematician who is also a quaterback or a painter who is also a nobel prize winning author.

The Bottom line is that the educators of certain countries cant take solace in thinking that the students that are graduating under their system are 'all-round'. If they do they are making a big mistake because their students  are lagging behind in what really matters: Science and Technology. And they are doing so at cost of producing 'sexy' students who confirm to the outline of a Hollywood plot.