betsy/katniss.
Your world was very oppressive, from what I understand, and one of the marks of keeping people oppressive is taking away education. I'm not surprise that there was no option for it.
And oppressed people often find themselves struggling just to survive so even if there was the option, it may not be available for you.
This is one of the reasons that Charles Xavier started a school for mutants. Many of us had been kicked from our homes or school, so a good deal of us understand some of what you were going through.