Beijing, needle marks, stripped naked for punishment, strange pills: children maltreated in a private kindergarten
Children were given a dense syrup to make them sleep. Three teachers were suspended. The Kindergarten belongs to RYB Education Institution, also listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The fee is the equivalent of half the average salary in the city.
Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Chinese police have opened an investigation into a private kindergarten after many children's parents found signs of needle marks on their children.
A group of parents gathered yesterday in front of the kindergarten building (see photo) where RYB Education Institution is located in Chaoyang, denouncing the presence of needle marks on the arms, forehead and buttocks of children. Others have said that their children had been given pills and a dense, brown syrup, and after having taken the medication the children went to sleep.
Others have also said that at least three children were stripped naked and locked in a dark room as punishment for their bad behaviour.
RYB Education manages 80 kindergartens, and franchises 175 pre-school institutions in 130 cities of China, serving about 20,500 children. Small children from four years old are welcomed into these pre-schools for a monthly fee of between 3,600 and 5,000 yuan (US $ 540-750), accounting for almost half of the average wage in the city.
Last September, RYB made its debut at the New York Stock Exchange, becoming the first Chinese school to be listed on the US market.
The company apologized to the parents on social networks and ensured that the offending teachers would be expelled. Yesterday, three kindergarten teachers were suspended.
This is not the first time RYB's kindergarten has been accused of child abuse. In October 2016, four teachers of a RYB pre-school in Siping (Jilin) were sentenced to 30-34 months in prison for "maltreatment" after needle marks were found on children.
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29/11/2017 10:09
