My parents struggled to pay our tuition. Dad was out of work for six months and I recall a phone call when our parish priest expressed he was not too pleased with our family's meager contributions as the Sunday collection plate missed our weekly envelope again.
I can't prove that my elementary school had that policy. The school is long gone now, but I would venture to guess that this was a valid policy years ago, which indeed did teach an important lesson.
None of us felt taken advantage of for the chores, despite not joining our classmates on the playground for recess. Rather, we found it a challenge to finish quickly so we could enjoy the use of the pool table in the adjoining room. We also managed to avoid participating in our class' recital of verb conjugations as our classmates waited for each remaining class to line up to return to class.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it’s that sometimes non-optimal situations can have silver linings that more than make it worth the hassle in the end, if you’re just willing to put in a little work. That and having some control of your own destiny in exchange for effort has it’s own rewards that can have a very high value.