They are China's future.  

Each of them possibly an only child, upon whose education lies their parents' hopes and aspirations, as well as their country's march to a yet greater future.

But China's children are being deliberately drugged, or else accidentally poisoned, right in their schools.

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This week, China ordered a massive inspection of schools nationwide amid incidents of food poisoning, and alleged administration of drugs to pre-schoolers by school administrators without parental consent.

Health and education authorities are focusing their probe on all kindergarten, primary and secondary schools across the country, with emphasis on the provinces of Jilin, Shaanxi and Hubei where the practice of dosing school children has been reported in six kindergartens.

Authorities are also investigating a private school in Yunnan where 2 children died and 30 others were hospitalized after eating snacks laced with rat poison on Wednesday.

Seven kindergarten owners have been arrested as of Thursday, including five from Jilin and two from Yichang in Hubei province, on allegations that they gave the anti-flu drug moroxydine to pre-schoolers to prevent them from getting sick and skipping school.

Pre-schools in China earn their income based on children's attendance. In cases where children have to go on sick leave, the schools have to refund their tuition fees.

The practice of giving anti-flu drugs to students by some school owners has reportedly been going on for years, with instructions to children not to tell their parents.

While no deaths have been reported in relation to the anti-flu drugs, many of the children who had taken it were said to have experienced abdominal pains and other symptoms, according to state media.

Angry parents, worried about the cumulative effects of their children's long-term exposure to the drug, took to the streets of Hubei and Shaanxi this week to demand that guilty school owners be punished.

Weibo photos of the protesting parents showed a placard that read, "We only have one child, and you fed them with a banned drug."

The state of health of China's children has drawn international attention in recent years since the 2008 controversy over Chinese manufactured baby formula that contained melamine, a harmful chemical added to milk to boost its protein content.

Studies on China's heavily polluted air and water also raised warnings about potential cancer risks and higher mortality rates among the country's population.

These, added to the recent exposé on the dosing of schoolchildren, have contributed to the erosion of trust among Chinese parents on how both private and public institutions are looking after the welfare of their offsprings - in most cases, their lone descendant.

Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday called on concerned government units to "tighten management of schools to prevent similar cases in the future."

The nationwide inspections of schools will continue until April 10.