In theory, yes it helps to keep the masses uneducated, so that they can be exploited. I doubt that there is a concerted effort to make this happen though, in reality.

No. Of course not. Have you ever seen a job opening asking for ignorant, uneducated employees, with no desire for advancement? I guess this may have been true many years ago when our economy was heavily dependent on labor. Thankfully, labor unions helped fight for the uneducated laborer, and many of our current work laws are a direct result of their efforts. But think about how much technology has changed the way we work. If you were an employer, say you own a restaurant, who would you rather hire: An illiterate with no communication skills, no math skills, no ability to reason or think logically, OR would you rather have someone who can at least write and speak coherently, solve problems on their own, etc. Most companies recognize that their success depends on the compentence of their employees. That is why many companies offer to pay for advanced education beyond high school. Now if you want to talk about politics, I think there is a concerted effort by politicians to keep their constituants uneducated and uninformed. That is why so many of them stay in power for so long while doing to very little to benefit the people they represent.

I would argue it benefits capitalists to keep a class of people undereducated, not uneducated. As capitlaists, we need workers and the workforce is becoming more and more technical so they ahve to know something. We need workers who can complete a complex task, but not a thought. Is there a conspiracy to keep people down? Probably. There is a reason the schools aren't gettig fixed.