Zhou Haiwang, deputy director of population and development studies at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said the lack of kindergartens was due to a combination of a baby boom in recent years and an increasing migrant population.

"The shortage of education resources has a direct relationship with the population size," Zhou said on Monday.

In big cities where economic level is relatively higher, more and more women are reluctant or refuse to bring children into the world. Thus, low birthrates have been the norm over the years, Zhou explained.

"In most recent years, the city has experienced a peak in births as people who were born in the 1980s, when there was a baby boom, now have entered their marrying and childbearing age, and this has led to difficulties getting their children into kindergartens and schools."

"The city's increasing number of migrants over the years has also resulted in a great demand for education for their children."

Yuyaolu No 2 Kindergarten, a public kindergarten in Shanghai, said it received more than 300 applicants in one day alone.