Learning "stuff that matters" should not be the goal of school. Most of the details students learn will be forgotten after a year at most. But during all this

Learning "stuff that matters" should not be the goal of school. Most of the details students learn will be forgotten after a year at most. But during all this time in school the students develop the mental infrastructure necessary for higher studies. In that sense even dead languages can be of benefit, even if the students never use them again. At the very least, sitting still and focusing on mental work trains the prefrontal cortex which is essential for impulse control and discipline. But today the focus is too much on learning practical skills, which often aren't that difficult to learn and easily forgotten. Rote learning is despised, even though it is the only way to build up the necessary memory skills for certain subjects.