A Dongguan toy factory is under investigation for hiring underage workers, said by their school to be serving "internships", reports Information Times.

Sixteen-year-old Zhang Zhiying said he was assigned to "intern" with the toy factory in mid-June, barely a week after he entered the Wuling School of Further Study - a private technical school in Taoyuan County, Hunan Province.

Some of his classmates were only 15. China's Labour Law sets the legal working age at 16.

The students were ordered to sign an internship contract with the school, which threatened dismissal without a tuition refund if any decided to drop out of the programme without permission.

Yi, who worked in the factory for more than a year even though his internship contract was meant to last just five months, said he worked about nine hours a day.

The students were promised 500 yuan (US$60) plus another 100-yuan (US$12) subsidy per month but actually received no more than 300 yuan (US$36).

He believed that the principal, Pan, was pocketing more than 10,000 yuan (US$1,200) of students' pay a month, with more than 800 students taking part in similar internships.

In a telephone interview, Pan claimed the internships helped expose new students to experiences that would make them "study harder in the classroom later".

Both the labour department of Dongguan and the education authority of Hunan Province have promised to look into the case.

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