Registration of After School Care Services

After school programmes offer individual attention to children and focus on mentorship, targeted enrichment, group support and life skills.

Programmes for school-going children in the afternoon and during school holidays offer a protected environment in which attention is given to homework and the child is encouraged to use free time constructively.

The impact of after school care programmes is significant and research has indicated the following improvements and results in children:

1. Academic improvements – reading, mathematics, better school attendance, better work habits and better homework completion.
2. Social improvements – peer relations, improved conduct and fewer disciplinary incidents.
3. Improved decision-making – less likely to use drugs and alcohol, less likely to be violent, and better problem solving.

There's a need to upscale after school care programmes directed at increasing youth resilience through focusing on development and prevention. Research shows that:

• Children are more vulnerable after school.
• Unsupervised children are twice as likely to use drugs.
• Children and youth in South Africa are 4 to 5 times more likely to be victimised than adults.
• After school care limits youth coming into conflict with the law.
• Most youth who break the law do so in the hours after school when they're unoccupied and unsupervised.