Few ideas:
1) Don't have cronies with fake PhDs openly consorting with your political apparatus
2) Actually fund public universities instead of buying more guns n' ammo. Pay lecturers well so you don't lose top-tier talent to private industry. https://twitter.com/GotabayaR/status/1361725188161687556

3) Integrate aspects of the humanities and economics into STEM degrees instead of producing rote learners with no intellectual curiosity. Likewise, give the arts a dose of statistics, for the love of all that's good; we've got enough half-assed woo thinking as is.

4) Fund and build institutes of vocational training for all those who don't make the z-score cutoff. Right now the choices are: get into university or give up and drive tuktuk.

But most importantly:
5) People need to see that education matters. Reflect this in your hiring decisions instead of the cheap nepotism of who's-related-to-whom. Show people that education matters more than accidents of birth.