'Govt-funded institutes needed'

Education experts said more government-funded preschools should be established and stricter measures should be taken to regulate schools for children after a string of health scares over the past week at private kindergartens.

Liu Qian, professor of education at Guangxi Normal University, said the cases have exposed the shortcomings of private kindergartens that don't have adequate funds to hire healthcare workers.

After media reports revealed that kindergartens in Hubei, Shaanxi and Jilin provinces were administering medication to children without the parents' knowledge, experts said teachers and administrators dispensed the drugs to ensure that students wouldn't miss school days because of illness. Kindergarten leaders and teachers are often paid bonuses if student attendance is high throughout the school year.

Meanwhile, the poisoning tragedy in Yunnan province was likely caused by the unlicensed private kindergarten's inability to inspect their foods.

"I suggest the government build more public preschool institutions to meet the demand of school-age children," Liu said.

- Hu Yongqi