(CNN) A Chinese kindergarten principal has been fired after she welcomed students back to school at the beginning of term with a pole dancing display. 
 
 Hundreds of children and parents at the Xinshahui kindergarten in Shenzhen, in the southern province of Guangdong, watched as a female pole dancer performed on a flag pole in a large courtyard. 
 
 Videos posted by parents on Monday show the skimpily-dressed dancer spinning and leaning seductively on the flagpole, from which a Chinese flag was flying. 
 
 Speaking to state media , the principal Lai Rong said there had been 500 children aged three to six and 100 parents in attendance. 
 
 Who would think this is a good idea? We're trying to pull the kids out of the school and get our tuition back. They wouldn't give us the number of the company that owns the school, but looking into that. pic.twitter.com/vEdIhuq774 — Michael Standaert (@mstandaert) September 3, 2018 
 
 The first Monday in September is the start of a new school year in China and schools often hold ceremonies to mark the occasion, usually involving motivating speeches by the principal or alumni. 
 
 Read More ||||| TWITTER/MICHAEL STANDAERT An image taken from video posted on Twitter by Michael Standaert on Sept. 2, 2018, shows a pole dancer performing during a back-to-school ceremony at the Xinshahui Kindergarten in Shenzhen, China. (TWITTER/MICHAEL STANDAERT) 
 
 TWITTER/MICHAEL STANDAERT An image taken from video posted on Twitter by Michael Standaert on Sept. 2, 2018, shows a pole dancer performing during a back-to-school ceremony at the Xinshahui Kindergarten in Shenzhen, China. (TWITTER/MICHAEL STANDAERT) 
 
 BEIJING (CBS/AFP) - A kindergarten principal in China trying to liven up a formal back-to-school ceremony with a racy pole dancer was fired after angry parents lit up social media with complaints. 
 
 Like most schools across China, the Xinshahui Kindergarten in the southern city of Shenzhen marks the start of the school year with a ceremony, usually consisting of performances and speeches. 
 
 But Monday's edition, which included the risque pole dance, cost principal Lai Rong her job. 
 
 Videos circulating on social media showed a scantily-clad dancer in hot pants shimmying up and down a pole to thumping music as stunned children in marching band uniforms looked on. 
 
 Others tried to mimic the sultry moves, with several small boys gyrating their hips and dancing around each other. In the background, shocked parents could be heard commenting about the suitability of the performance. 
 
 Many took to social media to express their outrage, threatening to pull their children out of school and calling for Lai's resignation. 
 
 "Pole dancing at a school welcome ceremony? How can I trust my children with them? I'm going to pull my kid out and ask for a refund," one parent wrote on social media platform WeChat. 
 
 "Is the principal an idiot?" another commented on the Twitter-like site Weibo. 
 
 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 
 
 Michael Standaert, an American ex-pat whose child goes to the school, tweeted on Monday that when his wife called to complain, the principal defended the show by saying pole dancing was an international phenomenon, and "good exercise." 
 
 In a text message to parents, Lai apologised for the "horrific viewing experience" and for not checking the dancer's performance, adding that the dance was intended to liven up the atmosphere. 
 
 Hours later, local education authorities announced they had fired the principal and put Xinshahui under investigation. 
 
 "Other schools in the district should reflect on this incident and strictly uphold education standards," the Bao'an education bureau said in a statement. 
 
 "I may as well be dead. I already lost the hope to live," Lai told state-run tabloid the Global Times. 
 
 This was just one of several incidents in a shaky start to the Chinese school year. 
 
 Over the weekend, parents complained that a television programme deemed mandatory viewing by state educators on Saturday night included 12 minutes of advertisements, mostly promoting online tutoring courses and stationery sales. 
 
 Earlier the same day, police arrested 46 people in central Hunan province after hundreds gathered to express dissatisfaction with the local school system. 
 
 According to posts on social media, parents were incensed when they were told they would have to move their children into dormitories at a local private school, dramatically increasing tuition fees. 
 
 © 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. ||||| So before our kids got out of kindergarten for the summer, there was 10 days of military "activities" and displays of machine guns and mortars at the door; now the principal has welcomed them back with a strip pole dance on the flagpole bearing the PRC flag. She's gone nuts.pic.twitter.com/BJr4UI6Oq3
– Hiring a pole dancer to perform for 500 kids age 6 and under probably isn't the best way to spice up the first day of the school year. Lai Rong, principal of the private Xinshahui kindergarten in Shenzhen, China, learned that the hard way Monday after approving a seductive dance routine on a pole topped with the Chinese flag, witnessed by the kids and 100 parents, reports CNN. "She's gone nuts," a parent (and journalist) tweeted, noting that Lai referred to the dance as "good exercise" and previously approved "displays of machine guns and mortars" at the school attended by his children. Lai got fired hours after apologizing for what she now calls a "horrific viewing experience," reports CBS News.