EIGHTY percent of all primary and secondary schools in Shanghai have signed up to a new insurance scheme created by the city’s education commission in association with China Life.

The commission told a press conference yesterday that the scheme will pay out in the event of children being injured while playing sport at school.

The fund is principally designed to give schools more confidence to hold "vigorous or competitive" sporting events without fear of litigation from parents, Ding Li, director of the sport, health and arts department at the Shanghai Education Commission.