After-school centres are settings that provide a range of functions that can include care, leisure, play, or academic support for primary-school-age children outside the regular hours of school. After-school centres are important in the lives of children in an increasing number of countries. Although most of these services provide care for school-age children, they can differ in what other purposes they perform in the hours outside school. After-school centres have recently begun to attract increasing interest from academic researchers. The purpose of this entry is to [Page 31]provide an overview of research into these settings and their varied purposes.

After-school centres typically operate in the hours immediately before and after school and can also operate during school vacations. These programs are provided in many geographic locations, ...