Drug scandal fuels children's safety concerns

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In the same month, a two-year-old boy was left unattended on a school bus for more than half a day in Central China's Hubei province. The child died in a hospital later that day.

The latest headline story attracted the attention of parents and experts alike, with many lashing China's education system, which is marred by a spate of flaws that threaten the safety of children.

Ms Zhu, whose three-year-old son attends a privately run kindergarten in Xi'an, chided the educational institutions for their mistreatment of children.

"How could they be so ignorant and apathetic toward the chubby-cheeked children?" Zhu said.

Zhu said that she could not sleep for two consecutive nights following the incident, worrying that other kindergartens in the city might have similar practices.

Zhu said that the government should ramp up transparency and supervision of kindergartens to ease the minds of concerned parents.

While children's safety is a big concern, others have raised doubts about the credibility of renowned non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as both the kindergartens have claimed they are affiliated with the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, a well-known NGO named after the wife of Dr Sun Yat-sen.

Zhang Ying, deputy secretary-general of the foundation, admitted that the two kindergartens were affiliated with the foundation, but denied any economic contact or business cooperation with them.

But parents of the victims said that they sent their children to the kindergartens only because they trusted the foundation, and they cautioned that the NGO should not shirk responsibility in the ordeal.

The parents pointed out that the illegal behavior, which was not spotted by any government body over the past six years, reflected the wider and increasingly urgent problem of a lack of sufficient government supervision that is playing out in China's private education institutions.

Guo Bing, executive director of Zhen'Ai Education Service Organization, an education NGO in Beijing, said that some education institutions are over-commercialized at the moment, and children's safety, which should have been a top priority, is largely left behind.

"Some budget-minded owners of private kindergartens spend little on the training of teachers and provide low teaching salaries, forcing many teachers to unleash their pressure on children and causing safety concerns," Guo said.

Guo added that China needs to step up laws and regulations to strengthen supervision amid mounting public scrutiny toward the education system, while stiff penalties should be meted out for those who violate the laws.

As of Friday, order had been restored at the two kindergartens. More than 200 children have received free physical examinations since Wednesday, while the city's education department has carried out safety examinations at all kindergartens and schools in Xi'an.

A parent whose child just returned to Fengyun said that the government should learn a lesson to avoid similar cases.

"I hope that things like this will never happen again," said the parent, who declined to give her real name.