The article poses the problem of the development of education not as a department, but as a special sphere, as a human institution, in which the task of developing a person, his basic personal qualities and professional abilities is put in the first place. The situation is analyzed through this prism in mass secondary and higher education. The analysis shows that a mass school, both secondary and higher, has turned into an institution of supervision and punishment, into a conveyor machine in which there is no person, but a function. Based on the analysis and taking into account the modern challenges facing the country, the author gives suggestions related to the institutional development of the education sector and the return of a person to it.