Local schools historically had two sessions - morning and afternoon. However most schools now just have the one session - usually morning.
This means you need to have the children to school at about 7.20am and they finish at 1.30pm. There are of course school buses - which are, not surprisingly, much cheaper than the
International School buses. Also the uniforms are about one quarter the price of the international school uniforms. However, from p3 and up, you will find that they spend a lot of time at the school after 1.30pm - usually at their own choice.
The schools are open until evening and they have security guards etc. Parents are usually not allowed to wander around the schools so they can recognize who should be there and who should not. So if you are worried about the early finish time - do not be worried.
If you like the early finish time it can be great - you have time to have lunch with the children before they do their homework and then have fun.
It works very well once you are used to it!