Row brews over govt kindergarten subsidy

By Li Wenfang (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-29 08:08

GUANGZHOU: The 60 million yuan ($8.8 million) in public money handed out in subsidies to nine kindergartens here was well spent, the finance bureau of Guangzhou insisted yesterday.

The bureau stood by its decision to subsidize the kindergartens - which were used by civil servants and their families - after criticism and accusations of malpractice.

The row blew up after the finance bureau decided to make public the budgets of 114 city government agencies on its website last week. The publication of the information was a national first. However, some people are now questioning the wisdom of some of the spending it reveals.

"In the current system, these kindergartens are considered public institutions receiving government subsidies," read a statement issued by the bureau.

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The 60 million yuan helped subsidize several items including transport and staff costs, the bureau insisted.

But some deputies with Guangdong provincial people's congress questioned the level of spending on kindergartens affiliated with governmental departments.

One kindergarten with connections to Guangzhou city government that took care of 280 children last year received 6.06 million yuan in government subsidies.

"It is not fair to subsidize the children of civil servants," said Lin Jiang, dean of the finance and tax department at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou.

The problem has its root in the planned economy, he said.

Lin called for the issue of privileges for civil servants to be debated by the public.

Zhu Yongping, chief of Guangdong Datong law firm, said the time has come to remove such subsidies and perks for civil servants.

The subsidies should be converted into civil servants' income, so the public can see exactly where its money is going, Zhu said.

The point is that only a small number of kindergartens enjoy such subsidies, said Tan Yanhong, a deputy to the provincial people's congress.

She said such benefits should be expanded to include all kindergartens.