This post refers to a lot of things that were clearly before my time.
The idea that students would be out the door before 2 frankly feels like something from a movie.
However, I think the current system is unavoidable worldwide due to the reason you brought up ie "mother's" time.
We have to choose one or the other, and it seems the decision was made long ago.
I wonder if there's any nation that arrived at a different solution to ours.