Parents attending a back-to-school ceremony at a kindergarten in China were shocked when a pole dancer took to the stage and began to perform.

The woman, wearing black shorts and a black crop top, can be seen in a video running her hands over her thigh before swivelling around a flag pole.

Small children and parents can be seen watching and standing next to the stage during the performance on Monday.

Journalist Michael Standaert, whose children attend the school, shared videos online - and wrote: "Crazy. We're trying to get them out of there and get our tuition back."

He alleged a number of adverts for a pole dancing school were at the kindergarten and speculated that the principal had been paid to display them.


"They also had a bunch of adverts out for a pole dancing school. Most likely paid the principal to put them up," he claimed.

In another video uploaded by Mr Standaert, a woman can be seen dancing suggestively.

The principal hung up on my wife when she called after saying it was "international and good exercise" ... okay, yeah for adults maybe, but not 3-6 year old kids. pic.twitter.com/OAw8S5ihzX — Michael Standaert (@mstandaert) September 3, 2018

Alongside the clip, he wrote: "The principal hung up on my wife when she called after saying it was 'international and good exercise' ... okay, yeah for adults maybe, but not 3-6 year old kids."

The head of the kindergarten has reportedly been fired over the bizarre incident by the education authority in the Chinese city of Shenzhen.

The performance was denounced by the local education bureau who issued a social media post warning other kindergartens against inappropriate behaviour.

And they also had a bunch of adverts out for a pole dancing school. The gals in the videos, except for the first one, were not the principal. pic.twitter.com/xj56WegTxG — Michael Standaert (@mstandaert) September 3, 2018

Videos of the stunt were widely shared on Twitter and Chinese social media.

"Pole dancing is by nature sexy and flirtatious, and by that measure, it is for the eyes of adults, not young children," said an anonymous user on Weibo, a popular Chinese site similar to Twitter.

Some viewers were more relaxed, with one user writing: "Well, I'm speechless. Pole dancing could be an Olympic sport in the future. It's an art form."