Beijing News (reporter Ying Yue) Affected by the new coronary pneumonia epidemic, many primary and secondary schools and colleges across the country postponed the start of school. Many parents are concerned that the duration of this semester has been shortened. Can some of the accommodation fees paid be refunded?

　　A reporter from the Beijing News found that as of the morning of May 15, at least 6 provinces including Guangdong, Shaanxi, and Ningxia have issued detailed rules for the refund of accommodation fees. Some colleges and universities have already started the refund process. Among them, the Xi'an Translation College accommodation fee refund will involve more than 20,000 students and an amount of more than 17 million yuan.

Many provinces have specified that monthly accommodation fee refunds are calculated on a monthly basis

　　More than one place has clarified the accommodation fee refund regulations.

　　On April 28, the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Education issued a clear message that during the epidemic prevention and control period, schools in various places should collect accommodation fees in strict accordance with the principle of non-profit. The standard for collecting accommodation fees is calculated on an average monthly basis, with an average base of 10 months charged for the academic year and an average base of 5 months charged for the semester. The school should charge accommodation fees based on the actual length of stay. The accommodation fees that have been charged according to the school year or semester shall be refunded reasonably according to the actual accommodation time of the students and scientific calculations.

　　On April 30, Guangdong Province issued the "Notice on School Charges during Epidemic Prevention and Control", which clarified the accommodation fees that have been charged. The school will reasonably refund before the end of the semester according to the actual situation of the 2020 spring semester. The specific method is that the accommodation fee is calculated as 300 days for 10 months per school year (150 days for 5 months for each semester), and the school will charge the accommodation fee based on the natural day from the date of return to the end of the semester. .

　　On the same day, the official Weibo of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Education, “The River of Education,” announced that it would do a good job in refunding accommodation fees. The school collects accommodation fees according to the actual occurrence principle, which is calculated according to 10 months per school year (5 months per semester), and the excess will be refunded to the students. If the actual residence time at the school is less than one month, half a month will be calculated for less than 15 days, and one month will be calculated for more than 15 days.

　　Subsequently, the two provinces of Ningxia and Hebei also made it clear that schools that have received accommodation fees according to the school year must settle the overpayment and return the students. The refund standard is the same as Zhejiang.

　　Sichuan Province made it clear that more factors need to be considered for refunds. For the accommodation fees that have been charged for the school year, the school will settle and refund at the end of the spring semester based on the actual length of stay and comprehensive consideration of personnel and depreciation costs directly related to the dorm.

　　The above provinces emphasized that no accommodation fees should be collected during the epidemic prevention and control period.

　　Ningxia issued the "Emergency Notice on Doing a Good Job in the Management of School Charges during the Prevention and Control of Epidemic Situation", which stipulates that accommodation fees shall not be received in advance across school years or semesters, and accommodation fees shall not be charged in advance without accommodation. If the accommodation fee has been charged according to the school year, the school must refund the overpaid portion to the student at the end of the 2020 spring semester.

　　Shaanxi, Zhejiang, Hebei, Sichuan, Guangdong and other places also made it clear that the accommodation fee shall not be received in advance across the school year or semester, and the accommodation fee shall not be charged in advance without accommodation.

　　Guangdong Province also proposed that tuition fees (teaching fees) shall not be received in advance across school years or semesters, and tuition fees (teaching fees) shall not be charged for non-starting classes or courses. All localities and schools (kindergartens) should fully implement various student subsidy policies, and increase financial assistance to students with financial difficulties and families affected by the epidemic. Tuition fees, accommodation fees, or temporary living allowances can be granted.

Xi'an Translation College and other schools have notified the refund of the accommodation fee

　　Accommodation fee refund policy has been implemented in some schools.

　　According to media reports, on April 30, the Xi'an Institute of Translation announced that the accommodation fee will be refunded to the students. The school bases on 5 months of a semester. According to the actual accommodation time, students who have paid fees will be refunded 3 months of accommodation fees, accounting for 60% of the total. Students who have not paid fees will be charged for 2 months. The refund will involve more than 20,000 students, and the refund amount will be more than 17 million yuan.

　　On May 10, the WeChat public account of Guangdong Vocational College of Science and Technology issued a message saying that due to the epidemic, the students have been unable to return to school for online learning. According to the superior policy, the school decided that the accommodation fee for the spring semester of 2020 will be based on actual conditions. Accommodation days will be settled, and the accommodation fees will be reasonably refunded in batches in the near future.

　　On May 14th, the WeChat public account of Zhuhai College of Beijing Institute of Technology issued a message saying that the accommodation fee has been collected according to the school year or semester, and the school will reasonably refund before the end of this semester according to the actual situation of the 2020 spring semester. The accommodation fee is 300 days for 10 months per academic year and 150 days for 5 months per semester. According to the unified arrangement of the spring return semester of 2020, the school will charge the accommodation fee according to the natural day and return to the end of the semester.

expert

School dormitory function and lease relationship to be redefined

　　During the epidemic situation, a large number of colleges and universities delayed the start of school, and students could not return to school or stay in accommodation. Can the refund of the accommodation fee paid to the school be?

　　In response to this problem, the Ministry of Education issued the “Warning on Issues Regarding School Charges during the Prevention and Control of Outbreaks of the Ministry of Education ’s Leading Group for the Treatment of Chaotic Charges” in April this year, which clearly stated that the accommodation fees that have been charged for the school year should be based on actual accommodation. Reasonable circumstances determine the refund method. The specific measures shall be formulated by the provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government).

　　In addition, the Ministry of Education has also made it clear that accommodation fees cannot be charged across school years or semesters, and accommodation fees cannot be charged in advance without accommodation.

　　"Whether colleges and universities should refund the accommodation fee" also caused heated discussion online. Supporters believe that from the student's point of view, there is no accommodation but they have to pay the accommodation fee. Even if it is only a few hundred yuan, it is unreasonable. Opponents believe that the cost of students living in collective dormitory is not high, colleges and universities have given preferential treatment and care, not to mention the items are placed in the dormitory, the school also has to bear certain management and maintenance costs.

　　Xiong Bingqi, deputy dean of the 21st Century Education Research Institute and education scholar, said that students living in the school's collective dormitory should be the relationship between the tenant and the landlord. There should be a refund for no accommodation, but do students and schools have leases? If so, it means that the dormitory belongs to the student during the lease. "It's like someone renting a house in a working city, unable to return to the city due to the epidemic. The house was vacant for two months, and the tenant has no reason to ask the landlord to return the rent for two months. Therefore, the key question is whether students live in school dormitories Sign the contract strictly in the form of renting a house, and clarify the rights and responsibilities. "

　　At present, on this issue, the treatment of many schools is relatively vague. The Ministry of Education stipulates that colleges and universities shall not charge accommodation fees across academic years or semesters. The agreed time for renting accommodation is one academic year or one semester. However, colleges and universities usually publish administrative regulations that stipulate how much they pay for living in school dormitories, which makes the "role" and "positioning" of dormitories very unclear.

　　"After making it clear that colleges and universities should refund fees based on the actual occupancy of students, all other boarding schools should also refund fees based on the actual occupancy of students. After this special situation, it is necessary to redefine the dormitory function and promote the socialization of school logistics services Colleges and universities are advancing the reform of education and teaching. "Xiong Bingqi said.

　　Beijing News reporter Ying Yue