Most definitely, knowledge is a form of power, so that those that are born into little or nothing from a material or status standpoint but have a mind that is capable of learning, have within their domain the ability to utilize that mind to become knowledgeable. That knowledge however, can thereby be utilized for the selfish advancement of a given individual or can be utilized for the greater benefit of mankind, of which, society as a whole, should be very interested in seeing that those that are knowledgeable use such knowledge for the advancement of mankind, as opposed to using such knowledge for its harm or strictly for individual gratification. This, thus means that as good as some schools and educational systems can be, it isn't good enough to simply provide the means for students to know and thereby to apply such knowledge in the real world, without taking into consideration and correspondingly spending a good amount of time, in recognition, that learning and the application of that learning must ultimately be held accountable to a higher standard.
In point of fact, those that are savvy, smart, and ambitious, do not always use their knowledge in a manner in which their objective is to be of material aid to their fellow societal members, but often find that their personality desires through misguided enticements or thought processes -- makes them far more inclined to utilize their smarts for the express benefit of their own self and those that they relate to, and typically when this is accomplished in a zero-sum construct, signifies that other people suffer for that decision. Further to the point, those that are well informed as well as being influential can cause considerably more damage than those that have ill intentions but aren't all that smart or ambitious, or well placed to do all of the harm that they intend or may desire to do.
While it is true that all people, should be taught the importance of having and maintaining good character, it is especially true that those that are quite bright, need to really take such to heart, for those that are in the position of which their acuity of mind allows them to read situations in a manner in which they thereby have an advantage upon most everyone, have within their power, the opportunity to be quite impactful for good or for bad. So that those without good character may find it relatively easy to thereby take the low road, because they see the personal rewards from doing so as being of far greater worth to their mindset, then doing the right thing, and especially are prone to making that decision, when they are able to convince themselves that they have the personal right to do so.
As in many things, knowledge as applied can be applied for either good or for bad, so that those that teach subjects but never find the time to address directly to their audience the dangers of the misuse of their subject matter, are making the cardinal error of teaching within a vacuum, without taking into full account that knowledge so learned, being eventually applied, must be entwined with good character, or the end result could not only be quite undesirable, but tragic in its subsequent consequences.