Does Spending Long Hours in School Contribute to The Desired Outcome of Education?

My friend's mother just passed away, after struggling with the liver disease for about seven years. A few parents met at a funeral wake and started sharing about their children's situation in school.

One mother talked about her daughter in a junior college coming home very late at night. She got anxious about it and so she and her husband decided to drive to the college to take a look. Upon reaching the college. Both of them realisad that the entire cohort was packed in the hall doing activities as part of the orientation programme. The activities ended after 12 midnight.

Students nowadays seem to spend lots of time in school. Is it desirable? Do they really learn? What do they learn? Does it contribute towards the desired outcome of education?