Why don't schools simulate a typical 9 to 5 work week for students and remove homework entirely?
I know this is typical for the US so this is more for US people to respond to. I wouldn't say that it is the best system for work, just wondering about the disconnect.
Schools in the US were designed to prepare kids for factory jobs initially. A lot of the structure related to that has changed but the amount of time you spend at school hasn't. Realistically you'd want a kid to spend less time at school. But schools are now used to prepare kids for working all day and then giving up their free time to their employer. That may be a little tin hat-ie, but it's at least partially true. However as a kid a few extra hours at school wouldn't have cut it for me. I preferred to do my work at home, I was also super distractible because I had adhd. Additionally as others have said that just wouldn't be feasible for a lot of kids/families.
I knew a professional anthropologist that raised a couple of kids while doing extended field work in the Amazon basin. They got maybe an hour or two a day of formal instruction during their grade school years. When they returned to the US, they tested at well above grade level and had no trouble adjusting.
I’m sure there was a big emotional adjustment to the endless hours in a classroom after being able to play in the trees most of the day, but they grew up and got established in their professions unusually quickly. I suspect it was due to the enriched social environment provided by having cool ass parents.