A kindergarten in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Wednesday denied accusations from the local education bureau, which said that the kindergarten has been instructing students in illegal religious texts and forcing them to embrace religion.
The local government's press office confirmed Wednesday that the Hualin Foreign Language Kindergarten has been required to stop accepting students and has had its license revoked.
"The security authorities have stepped into the case. The education bureau is gathering information on nearby kindergartens and will ask parents to send their children to other schools," a press official told the Global Times.
The education bureau declined to comment on their investigation on Wednesday.
The bureau distributed a letter to the parents on Monday saying that the kindergarten has been teaching students with illegal religious books and forcing them to profess religious faiths.
However, the school said in a statement that it has been devoted to its students' development, and the bureau has no evidence to support the accusations. It claimed that the so-called "texts" are "morality textbooks."
The school's lawyer Qin Yongpei told the Global Times that there were no religious activities in the school. Only two teachers are Christian and the books in question were registered with the local education bureau five years ago.
"We will call for investigation of the bureau for abuse of power," said Qin, adding that the school is operating normally.
A father surnamed Du, whose 5-year-old son has been studying in the school for two years, said that he doesn't recall any religious content in the instruction materials. "The textbooks talk about moral qualities in fairy tales. I felt confused about the letter and expect to see more evidence."
A document from the local religious affairs bureau presented by Qin says that 47 items used by the kindergarten have content relating to Christianity, and that the school has been forcing children to embrace religion, which is against regulations.