The children of government workers and employees of public institutions in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province will no longer be given priority admission to publicly-funded kindergartens, Wang Dong, deputy mayor of Guangzhou said at a press meeting on Wednesday.

The Nandu Daily reported Tuesday that the city approved a plan on reforming public kindergartens on Monday, which aims to expand the number of children attending public kindergarten whose parents work in the private sector.

Publicly-funded kindergartens in Guangzhou now have an annual enrollment of 7,000 pupils. There is no data revealing how many children of government employees are given priority access to the kindergartens.

Fourteen kindergartens that are funded by local government departments and public institutions will be transferred to the municipal educational department in 2013. 

The proportion of vacancies designated to the public will reach 70 percent in 2013, 80 percent by 2014 and 90 percent by 2016.

"This reform will put an end to the phenomenon that even children have to rely on their family background for quality education," said Deng Hongyong, deputy director of Guangzhou Municipal Development and Reform Commission.

The Guangzhou-based New Express reported in late September that a public kindergarten in the city divided applicants into seven categories with preference given to those from families of public employees and overseas citizens.

"Terminating public servants' privilege will not ensure children of ordinary citizens will be enrolled, as there are still many other privileged people out there," said Feng Xiaoxia, a pre-school education professor with the Faculty of Education at Beijing Normal University. "Local educational authorities should build more public kindergartens that can meet actual needs for all," Feng said.