I think the most pointless rule in my school was learning formulas by heart. Every person I mention it to, tells me that after one or two weeks they also forgot those formulas completely. I think it's something useless from any point of view because your understanding and knowledge don't increase from memorizing words and numbers; they increase when you are able to understand the meaning of those words and numbers and how to apply them to solve problems
Yes, it's called "learning by doing" - John Dewy