HONG KONG — Two teachers were arrested at a Chinese-language kindergarten in Italy on suspicion of physically abusing 10 pupils between the ages of three and six, video website Pear Video said on Feb 20.

Surveillance camera footage purportedly shows the Chinese women — identified as 38-year-old Zheng Moli and 26-year-old Hong Pingping — kicking and hurling children to the floor, and using what appeared to be a cane to beat them.

One video showed an adult pushing a child to the floor before striking them with a stick. The pupils are all of Chinese ethnicity. It is not known if the suspects are of Chinese or Italian nationality.

The incidents were captured on camera at a kindergarten in the city of Prato in Tuscany, northern Italy. The preschool is located in Prato’s Chinatown area, newspaper La Repubblica reported on Jan 31 when the women were arrested.

Another staff member was under investigation by police, La Repubblica said.

The incidents were reported to police by a parent, who was told by a kindergarten employee of their colleagues’ behaviour.

Police investigations began in December, when three CCTV cameras were installed in the classrooms to monitor staff. Before then, none of the parents had complained to authorities about the welfare of their children.

“This kind of behaviour is very common in China,” Zheng was quoted in the Pear Video report as saying. She said she was subjected to violent treatment at school.

“Nobody told me that in Italy, it is illegal to use an ‘educational cane’ to hit children… in China, ‘educational canes’ are used to improve children’s sense of awareness,” she said.

Controls were put in place by the school to make sure staff abided by regulations, La Repubblica said.

The Peak Video report drew a big response on Weibo, where many users disagreed with Zheng’s suggestion that physical abuse was acceptable in Chinese schools.

“I’m sorry, but this is not normal in China and should be investigated,” one top-rated comment on Weibo said.

Chinese law forbids the use of corporal punishment in schools. Incidents and even deaths related to physical abuse of schoolchildren have also led to widespread public condemnation in recent years.

A former teacher at the RYB New World Kindergarten in Beijing was sentenced to 18 months in prison in December for jabbing four pupils with needles as a punishment.

The kindergarten was at the centre of a months-long public scandal last year involving allegations of physical and sexual abuse by teachers. SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST