Private kindergartens have more reason to charge high fees as they are essentially profit-making businesses. Their fees have risen each year to as much as 100,000 yuan per annum ($14,641) in cities such as Beijing, Nanjing of Jiangsu Province and Zhengzhou of Henan Province.

Like many parents of her generation, Wei misses the days of her childhood when there were few rich people, and kindergartens were cheap and easy to get a place in. Back then, many companies and communities ran non-profit kindergartens.

With the adoption of reforms, the pre-school education system based on a planned economy quickly broke down and many kindergartens were closed. Pre-school education has gradually become an industry. Since 1995, there has been a decrease in the supply of pre-school education teachers, and an increase in kindergarten fees, which largely exceeds the affordability of the working class. Many people complain that entering kindergarten is now more expensive and more difficult than going to university.

According to a survey conducted by the Social Survey Center of China Youth Daily, 71.1 percent of people think pre-school education charges are very high and 26.2 percent regard them as relatively high. According to a recent announcement on national education development, in the last two years only 21.8 million children aged three to six entered kindergartens for pre-school education. That was only 40 per cent of the total number of children in that age group (60 million) across the country.

Serious situation

"Public kindergartens charge a sponsorship fee because the regulations set by the educational department are outdated," said Feng Huiyan, Director of Beijing No.1 Kindergarten. "There has been almost no change made to the standard charge for a long time." The No.1 Kindergarten, which dates back to the beginning of the People's Republic of China, is one of the most prestigious schools in Beijing.

According to Feng, teachers in state kindergartens are all ensured a stable salary and welfare by the government, which maintains stability at the schools. "Even so, state kindergartens still face difficulties in development," she added.

Private kindergartens face a more serious situation. "Unlike public kindergartens, which are supported by the government, we can only offer a higher salary and build a better cultural environment to make the teachers happy here," said Li Yue'er, Director of Baxueyuan Kindergarten. Li also said that in order to keep costs low many kindergartens fire staff rather than give them a pay rise after a few years, preferring to hire new lower-paid teachers.

"The problem is that the investment from the government is not enough and not balanced," said Cai Yingqi, a professor on pre-school education at Central China Normal University. If the government's investment is not enough, people have to pay themselves.

According to the Compulsory Education Law, pre-school education is not included in the nine-year compulsory education system. For a long time, the investment in pre-school education occupied just 1.2-1.3 percent of the public education budget.

"When making policies on pre-school education, the government always emphasizes that pre-school education is not compulsory, and relies more on society for its development. This results in a weakness in pushing policies to set up kindergartens," said Chu Zhaohui, a researcher at the China National Institute for Educational Research.

Xin Lijian, head of Xinfu Education Group, holds a different opinion. "I don't think pre-school education should be included in the compulsory education system," he said. Xin said that the demand for pre-school education varies and parents have differing ideas on what form it should take.

"The government at present can't afford the expense of giving all children pre-school education. Parents, companies and society should share the responsibility for this."

On the issue of the high kindergarten charges, Xu Mei, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Education (MOE), revealed recently that the MOE is working with the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance to issue new regulations on fees.

Sociologist Zhang Guifeng argued that the government should strengthen the monitoring system of kindergartens. Not only kindergartens but also monitoring units should be punished when high fees are charged, he believes.

Pang Lijuan, a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, advocated creating a pre-school education law to ensure the healthy development of pre-school education with legal protection.