Abusive acts committed by two kindergarten teachers this week have shone a spotlight on the lack of supervision for preschools in China.
Their acts have caused an uproar among Chinese parents, many of whom are worrying about their own children's safety.
Angry parents have blamed authorities for letting the abusive teachers get off too easily: a week or two in detention for "provoking disturbances" and loss of their jobs.
Such cases of extreme violence, though sporadic, are exposed from time to time at kindergartens and schools across China, in public and private institutions alike.
The violence has revealed deep-rooted problems in preschool education, an area that lacks government spending and supervision, but is rapidly growing as the baby boomers of the 1970s and 1980s have become parents.
These young parents are often eager to send their children to nurseries and kindergartens to learn basic social skills. But finding the right institution has been increasingly difficult, as public schools, small in number, do not have enough places, while private ones are often expensive and have management problems from time to time.
The two abusive teachers, for example, both worked for privately-run kindergartens -- one of which was not even licensed. Neither of the teachers were licensed.
DEFICIENCY
Little official data is available regarding how many people are employed in preschools, nor how much revenue they generate.
Available data is typically related to the imbalance between the growing demand for preschool education and a lack of proper institutions.
In Beijing, for example, the number of nurseries and kindergartens has declined nearly 60 percent, from 3,056 in 1996 to 1,266 now.
These facilities apparently fall short of demand, as Beijing's preschool population is estimated to be around 670,000, with about 190,000 additional children born every year.
Civil construction engineer Wang Lin has applied for his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter to go to a government-run daycare center near his home in Beijing's Xicheng district.
"The four beginners' classes for three-year-olds have 130 places in total. My daughter's number is after 600, which means she will have to wait for a year or two," said Wang.
In China, most public kindergartens accept children from 3 to 6 years of age. Some private institutions also accept younger children.
Nearly all major cities have reported a severe shortage of kindergartens. In north China's Tianjin, only one out of four applicants can enter the public kindergarten of their choice. In the southern boom city of Shenzhen, 1,000-plus kindergartens accommodate 73,000 three-year-olds, although the city's population in that age group is at least 135,000.
The deficiency of kindergartens has forced many parents to lower their expectations. Wealthy parents send their children to foreign-funded kindergartens that charge an average of 5,000 yuan (800 U.S. dollars) a month, while children of low-income families and migrant workers often go to substandard, sometimes unlicensed "underground" nurseries.
An Jing, a migrant from north China's Hebei province, said her six-year-old son attends an underground nursery in Beijing's Haidian district.
"It charges 300 yuan a month, about 10 percent of the average kindergarten expenses in our neighborhood," she said.
The kindergarten is hidden in a courtyard home and its makeshift classroom has no window. It has only three teachers, all of whom are migrants who also work as chefs and cleaners.
"Sometimes they beat the children for minor offenses. I hate that, but cannot do anything. Even permanent residents cannot send their children to public kindergartens," said An.
LEGISLATION
China's preschool education has suffered from insufficient government spending, unqualified faculty and a lack of supervision, said Xiong Bingqi, deputy head of the Beijing-based 21st Century Education Research Institute.
He said 800,000 qualified kindergarten teachers are needed to make up the deficiency.
"To ensure children's rights are duly protected, it is also important to step up legislation and create a better school environment," said Xiong.
Though prevalent laws regarding children's rights, including laws on nine-year compulsory education, minors' rights protection and codes of ethics for teachers strictly ban corporal punishment, most schools simply fire abusive teachers instead of taking them to court when violence occurs.
"Kindergartens and school authorities should step up legal education for teachers and seek judicial intervention in case of violence," Xiong said.
Shanghai-based lawyer Ding Jinkun said it is high time to amend China's criminal law and include child abuse as a penal offense.
"The law currently defines the crime of abuse only as violence committed by family members, while the abuse of children by teachers or other caregivers -- including beatings and humiliation -- is often allowed to pass if no serious injuries are inflicted," said Ding.
