Primary schools in Shanghai will lengthen their after-school childcare services by an hour to six o'clock starting on Mar 20.

Parents will not have to pay additional fees for this extended service.

The move, which is aimed at helping alleviate the burden on working parents, was announced on Friday by the city's education authority. 

According to local news portal Shanghai Observer, the Experimental Primary School of Institute of Education in Yangpu district has been offering the extended service since the new semester started in February.  

The school provides two kinds of service to students whose parents cannot pick them up immediately after school.

During the "happy playing period" from 3:15 to 4 pm, children can choose to participate in 20 activities, including international checkers, drawing and learning the Shanghai dialect. From 4 to 6 pm, students are divided into three classes to complete homework, read or play games and sports guided by teachers.

A similar service has also been provided in Jing'an district last month.

Jiang Yi, headmaster of the Experimental Primary School of Institute of Education of Yangpu district, told Shanghai Observer that the school has established a teacher volunteer group to ensure safe and proper care of the students. Three teachers are assigned to the extended service every day. Other volunteers include students from the nearby Fudan and Tongji universities.

Parent volunteers also help out at Zhabei No. 3 Central Primary School in Jingan district. According to the school, more social education assets or welfare institutions will be introduced to this after-school service if the demand grows.