By Andrew Tait

A well-established kindergarten company has fired back at controversial allegations of chronic mismanagement, rats in a building and the blacklisting of former employees who have tried to speak out.

A series of allegations made to the Global Times by current and former employees were "false and incorrect pieces of information," according to senior management at the Etonkids International Education Group - not connected to England's Eton public school.

Talking on condition of anonymity, six teachers who reported their experiences at some of the city's 10 Etonkids kindergartens said they feared identification.

"Please don't use my name," wrote one teacher. "Etonkids will do everything to kick me out of the country and make my life miserable."

"We have a fully staffed HR department and support system to address any issues staff members face," the Etonkids management team wrote in their e-mail response.

After praising their colleagues, students and parents, the teachers expressed dismay at what one described as "classroom atrocities and being ripped off or cheated."

"Atrocities" included rationing of children's food, being asked to keep silent when accidents or other "questionable incidents" occurred and rat infestations, the teachers claimed.

Etonkids denied rats at its Palm Springs campus.

"Traps were set immediately and no rats have been seen in the kitchen or elsewhere in the campus since that time in February," the team wrote.

"We are extremely committed to keeping our campuses clean and free of any pests."

Measures had been taken but the rats were still there, said Palm Springs campus Principal Fang.

"They are only on the first floor and so far, no complaints from parents or students have been reported," she said. "The rats don't come out during the day and we always clean up after them, so the students' health is not in danger."

On top of the teachers' anonymous allegations are claims by the website www.etonkidsbeware.com that depict the kindergarten firm as "unscrupulous business people in China who have absolutely no regard for well being of young children and whom have a single-minded purpose of making profit."

The website, blocked on the Chinese mainland, was "apparently set up by a dissatisfied parent, though we are not sure who the author is, since the complaints mentioned there have never been brought up by any parent at our Palm Springs Campus," replied the Etonkids management team.

Attempts to contact website author "Ms Sun" went unanswered.

A receptionist at Etonkids headquarters in Beijing said Tuesday that they had three "international campuses" in the city. Education authorities knew and had approved of their international programs, she said.

A Shunyi education authority spokesman authority said one of two kindergartens in the district had a license, but not an international license.

"We have only given one Etonkids school a license and it doesn't say 'international' or 'bilingual,'" he said.

"So they shouldn't be advertising as 'international,' and we haven't even given them permission for a bilingual school."

At the "international campuses," parents can pay up to 120,000 yuan ($17,568.8) a year for what Etonkids describes as "a first-class international education in the context of a pure Montessori education."

Yan Shuang contributed to this story