The Role of Afterschool Programs in the Educational Activity

The article talks about the motivation behind After School programs, beginning with current tendencies to expand educational activities from the school itself towards other providers of educational activities and services. Educational institutions are functioning in a broad and complex social context – the global society as global social system (national, state system). This system has various influences over educational institutions – over the final scope of education (aims and objectives), discipline content, organization of institutions and educational system, administrative and legal regulations. From a different perspective, the same institutions are functioning in a specific social context, in a local and regional community that provides the students but also comes with expectations to which educational institutions must respond. The school is an institution that functions in a community made up of many educational factors: family, authorities, governmental organizations and NGOs. They also offer educational alternatives. All types of school organizations are subjected to pressure coming from different factors: local ideological groups, political systems, economical realities and other social tendencies. Educational institutions are therefore influenced by economical, political, cultural and ideological trends. Institutions that host After School rely on the environment in which the function, when it comes to accessing material, financial, human and informational resources.