WHERE do children go out of school hours? Most young-sters are in school during the morning and afternoon, so what do they do to fill the hours in between? Many schoolchildren need somewhere to go when they are not at school and there is no one at home. This is not a problem facing just single-parents; both parents are out at work in most families. Children need somewhere to go each day - in the morning before school or in the afternoon after they have returned from classes, as well as during the holidays. They need somewhere which is safe, comfortable and properly supervised; somewhere not too far from home, where they can relax and play, do their homework, take part in structured activities, and have a good lunch or supper. There is a need for a service caring for primary schoolchildren, aged from six to 12 (those between two and six are already catered for at childcare centres). In the old days, there was usually another member of the family around to take care of the younger ones. But now, families are smaller with fewer brothers and sisters to help. Only a minority can afford a maid. So what happens to those youngsters left alone? Do they have to while away the hours in an empty flat until their parents return from work? Or worse, do they roam aimlessly around the streets or housing estates? Both options are undesirable and dangerous. But we have to face the fact that this kind of family set-up is here to stay. Before-and after-school care services, however, can play a major part to help. There are already a number of care centres run by non-government and religious organisations, and they are doing an excellent job. All of them are full and many have long waiting lists. The demand could be met - at relatively little cost - by expanding existing Children's and Youth Centre facilities. By tapping into existing resources and staff, we would be able to cut down on costs, which is always a crucial factor in a project of this kind. A modest fee could make the service self-financing but non-profit-making, and engaging non-working mothers as volunteers to supplement regular staff could curb expenses and promote a degree of community involvement. But what we first need to know is how many parents would wish to use such a service. Presumably, single-parent families - there were nearly 35,000 in 1991 - would find them especially useful. So too, one imagines, would families in which both parents work. CURIOUSLY, there seems to be no breakdown of Census Department figures on working women to show what percentage are mothers. We can, however, see that in 1990, 1.2 million women were at work. More than half of those aged between 30 and 44 have jobs, and it seems reasonable to assume that most of those are married and have at least one child in the six to 12 age group. After-school services have been developed in many other parts of the world. They exist in the United States, Britain and the rest of Europe. A good deal of research has been conducted on how best to organise and finance them. We do, of course, need to conduct our own investigations which bear in mind particular needs of the Hongkong Chinese. We need to find out what kind of service parents want, and what activities would give most benefit to children outside school. An integrated approach to work and play would seem to be best. Hongkong schoolchildren have a good deal of homework and it should be possible for them to get the bulk of it done there, with, perhaps, a tutor present to give a hand to those children who encounter difficulties. It is also important for a child to relax and enjoy playing games with friends, to sit and chat with peers or centre staff and mothers who are there as volunteers, or to be on his or her own in a quiet corner of the room with a toy or a book. Guidance and counselling could also be provided as part of the service. As American studies have argued, such centres are also the place where children can, sometimes by trial and error, learn how to interact with their peers in a socially acceptable way. The service should be neighbourhood based. An advantage of this would be children could walk to the centre without having to fight through crowded buses and trains during peak hours. It would also cement children's friendships with people in the neighbourhood, thus adding to a sense of involvement in the local community. Rosanna Wong is an Executive Councillor and Executive Director, The Hongkong Federation of Youth Groups.