China to strengthen after-school services to support three-child policy

BEIJING -- Lyu Yugang, an official with the Ministry of Education, said Wednesday that after-school services will be further promoted as a support measure for China's three-child policy.

All the compulsory education institutions in the country will provide after-school services starting this fall semester, Lyu told a press conference, adding that efforts will be made to ensure all students in need have access to such services.

The after-school services will be provided in every school day, for a duration of no less than two hours, depending on the local daily work hours, Lyu said.

Schools will be encouraged to extend the after-school services if necessary and maximize the attractiveness of such services, the official added.

By the end of May, a total of 102,000 primary and junior high schools in China had launched after-school services, benefiting 65 million students who could not be timely picked up when school hours ended, Lyu said.

China on Tuesday released a decision allowing a couple to have three children and rolling out a slew of support measures, ranging from tax breaks to more nurseries and flexible work leave to encourage births.