Preschools run by firms need strict supervision

A video of a teacher throwing a girl's bag away in a kindergarten classroom and forcing kids to swallow mustard went viral on Tuesday. The incident occurred at a day-care center that domestic travel agency Ctrip established for the children of its staff in Shanghai. The teacher has been detained and police are investigating the case. Two experts share their views on the issue with China Daily's Zhang Zhouxiang and Pan Yixuan. Excerpts follow:

Kindergartens need overall improvement

According to official data, last year the number of children in kindergartens across China was about 44 million. About 4.9 million teachers are needed to run these kindergartens smoothly, but their actual number was about 2.5 million, or just over half of those needed.