Parents can choose

Dang Zi (ycwb.com): Early childhood education has not yet been calculated in the nine-year compulsory period in China. Therefore, it survives because of market forces. As a commercial product, it is similar to any commodity whose prices fluctuate with supply and demand. The huge investment made in Henghai Kindergarten naturally asks for smart returns. As long as people are prepared to pay such high fees, the cash-guzzling kindergartens will be with us.

We are living in a diversified era where people are increasingly aware of unique education. If their demands are legitimate and reasonable, our education system should satisfy them. Admittedly, the children from upscale kindergartens might not be better educated than others, but this is not enough reason to ban these schools. It's the same as a choice between a budget hotel and a five-star hotel. Both are available and you stay in the room you can afford. It's an individual choice.

Wang Shichuan (Qilu Evening News): Early childhood education is not compulsory in China, so parents are free to make choices of where they want to send their children. If financially well-off, parents will of course send their children to top schools.

It is not those developing these modern kindergartens who are the issue, but rather the people who are jealous of the rich. If someone is born with a silver spoon in their mouth, good luck to them. If their wealth has been earned in a legal manner, the owners have a right to spend it as they please and that includes expensive schools.

A mature market economy should allow people to choose for themselves and make the choices within their means.

Lei Hui (gmw.cn): Chinese kindergartens traditionally act as a satellite home for children where they pass the time while parents are at work. The recognition of simple words and poetry cannot train elites. For an elementary institution like this to charge tens of thousands yuan is certainly a surprise to conservative Chinese consumers.

Few preschool programs fall in the category of elite education, but the daily emerging middle class in China are keen to raise their children in better conditions, so the soaring of education expense is foreseeable.

Schools like Henghai remind us that we should broaden our views to develop a variety of new programs for our children. At least, the high-priced kindergartens are trying to pioneer a different way of teaching.

Geng Yinping (sina.com): Today's key middle schools are reduced to competing for students by boasting first-class teaching facilities and advanced education concepts. Actually, most of them are showcases aimed at enlarging recruitment programs to earn more.

Against this backdrop, high-priced kindergartens with modern, first-class facilities are introduced to provide a relaxing learning environment full of free thought and equal communication. Modern education advocates invention of practical study mechanisms to make it more alive and vigorous.