Actually, you may be right: If the goal of school education were to teach students some specific subjects, more efficient short programmes could have been used, such as high-intensity several-week courses with best available teachers. 

This discrepancy is probably not intended, but a result of largely chaotic development of education over the years. There were hardly any realistic *quality metrics* except for exam grades, which tell nothing about how the students can use their skills in real life. 

Even the original task of school – learning to read, write and count – took multiple years due to inefficient methods, like reciting psalms by heart. As methods improved in the 19th and 20th centuries, the bad timing was already ingrained. Meanwhile, it became necessary to prepare qualified workers and to detect potential talented engineers, scientists and public figures. So now students are brought in contact with various knowledge domains so they might pick one for their future career. And although they won't remember most of the material, it will be familiar enough for them to navigate the world beyond their home town.

So your homework is likely more intended to:
1. teach your brain to interact with new material at your own pace, without immediate occasion to ask a question;
2. get you accustomed to plan & complete regular tasks with a given deadline...
3. ... or to resolve situations alternatively, e.g. through cooperation with others, negotiations, cheating etc.
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