A forgotten class

Kindergarten teachers are poorly paid and largely unrecognized, but this may be starting to change. Guo Ying and Pan Xu report.

Being a kindergarten teacher is not an easy job for Zhang Wei, 22, who works for a private institution in Chaoyang district, Beijing.

She arrives at the kindergarten before 7:30 am and has a tight schedule every day. Besides teaching classes and organizing outdoor activities for nearly 30 children, she also prepares teaching plans, attends meetings and deals with all kinds of inquiries from parents.