Police in the southern Yunnan city of Jianshui have arrested a kindergarten teacher who they say has confessed to pricking 24 students, some as young as three years old, with a syringe.

Twenty-one year old kindergarten teacher Sun Qiqi (孙琪琪) said that she used syringe pricks as a way to discipline students who were not obedient in class or who were making noise during naptime.

Police said that during questioning, Sun repeatedly said there were no liquids in the syringe's chamber and that she had not injected her students with anything. During investigation, police found a five milliliter disposable syringe in Sun's office desk at Xihu kindergarten in Jianshui.

There were also numerous needle holes in Sun's desk, which people close to the investigation said were made when Sun stabbed her desk while trying to frighten disobedient students.

A police spokesperson said 24 students have been tested for HIV, and hepatitis B and C, with no children testing positive for any of the three illnesses, adding that there were an additional 15 students that may have been pricked by Sun who may require testing.

A former classmate of Sun's told reporters that she had a bad temper and was very impatient. According to the Jianshui Education Bureau, Sun had yet to receive her teaching permit and Xihu Kindergarten, which has 179 students, had not yet received a license to operate.