A PRIVATE kindergarten in Longgang District was shut down by local authority for not being licensed Sunday, one day before the new semester began, leaving over 100 children unable to attend school, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.
At noon Monday, some parents were lingering at the entrance of Qicai International Kindergarten in Keyuan Xiaoqi housing estate, waiting for the Longgang District Education Bureau’s response on the sudden shutdown.
According to one of the parents, surnamed Ma, the kindergarten had been an activity hall before it was renovated to offer preschool education in 2014. “The kindergarten was opened in the second half of 2014 and the application was submitted to the education bureau in 2016,” said Ma.
The Longgang District Education Bureau had rejected the application as it did not meet the standards for a kindergarten. After some adjustments to the hall, the application was officially accepted at the end of December. However, the kindergarten was in operation while the application was still being processed.
Many parents said it was unacceptable for the authority to just shut down the school without any prior announcement.
Ma said the residential complex houses about 1,761 children aged between 3 and 6, but there are only two government-owned kindergartens nearby with a capacity of around 400 children.
The Longgang Education Bureau said in response that the kindergarten was illegally operated and had ignored a few warnings. The authority made a penalty decision in August and asked the kindergarten to cease operation, but it did not work.
