A kindergarten teacher in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, has been suspended from work because she exposed children in her class to ultraviolet light as punishment, according to xinhuanet.com, a website run by Xinhua News Agency.

The teacher, surnamed Dai, who worked at Linping No 2 kindergarten in Hangzhou's Yuhang district, found 12 children in her class did not gargle or drink water as required on May 16. She then turned on the ultraviolet lamps to scare and punish the children, the report said.

The ultraviolet lamps were installed in the classroom for disinfection and can only be used when the classroom is empty.

Excessive exposure to ultraviolet light may cause harm to people's skin and eyes.

After the incident, the teacher was severely criticized by the kindergarten and the children's families. The teacher has visited the children's families to apologize, according to the report.

The incident is now under investigation by the local government and the director of the kindergarten has also been punished.

All 42 children in Dai's class will receive physical examinations to ease parents' worries, according to the educational bureau and center for disease control of Yuhang district.