Reporter's investigation: Non-discipline training institutions generally sell large course packages regardless of restrictions

Training institutions exploded lightning, causing heavy losses to parents who purchased large lesson bags The reporter's investigation found

Non-discipline training institutions generally disregard the restrictions on promoting large course packages

● Parents should not pay for more than 3 months or 60 hours of training when paying for training; Non-discipline training pays a fee of no more than 5000,<> yuan at a time to avoid refund disputes and the risk of "running away with money". At the same time, we should be wary of inducing over-time and over-limit charges by means such as "recharge and gift"

● The reporter randomly selected 10 non-discipline training institutions for investigation and inquiry, and found that almost all of them had the problem of over-quota and over-time charges such as large class bags, which involved children's programming, physical fitness, swimming, tennis, street dance, skiing, equestrian, fencing and dance. Some lesson packages are "big" to 200 class hours, and the staff introduced that 48 class hours are about 1,200 yuan, and 2,<> yuan for <> class hours can be won

● The regulatory responsibilities of relevant entities should be clarified, and an institutional mechanism for multi-department linkage and coordinated law enforcement led by the education sector should be established, paying special attention to the role of market supervision departments and financial management departments; Actively promote the collation and revision of relevant laws and regulations, local regulations, and normative documents, form a necessary list of powers and responsibilities, and provide a clear legal basis for relevant management departments to carry out lawful supervision

□ Zhao Li, reporter of this newspaper

□ Intern Hu Miao

"Gone again?" Beijing parent Zhao Pei repeatedly confirmed to friends around her.

In early March, the art training institution that had previously signed up for her children suddenly suspended classes due to capital turnover problems, and she reacted that her unspent class time fee was still more than 3,1 yuan - this is the third time in the past three years that Zhao Pei has encountered this situation, with a total loss of about 3,3 yuan.

Recently, a number of well-known non-discipline training institutions are suspected of lightning, which has attracted widespread attention, including the institution that Zhao Pei reported to her children. On March 3, the Ministry of Education and the China Consumers Association issued a reminder for off-campus training, reminding parents not to pay for more than 13 months or 3 class hours when paying for training. Non-discipline training pays a fee of no more than 60,5000 yuan at a time to avoid refund disputes and the risk of "running away with money". At the same time, we should be wary of inducing over-time and over-limit charges by means such as "recharge and gift".

However, a recent investigation by a reporter from the "Rule of Law Daily" found that in the non-discipline training market, high-priced large course packages are still sold, and even training institutions subcontract between various "bosses" when there are still a large number of parents who have not spent their class fees, which has brought a lot of potential risks to consumers.

Buy a big class bag to lower the unit price

Frequent encounters with institutional runaways

In July 2021, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the Opinions on Further Reducing the Burden of Homework and Off-campus Training for Students in the Compulsory Education Stage. After more than a year of efforts, the governance of discipline-based training has made phased progress. However, it is worth noting that while discipline-based off-campus training institutions have been greatly reduced, the problems existing in non-discipline training have begun to become prominent.

On March 3, Beijing Orange Tree Culture Communication Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Orange Tree), a well-known art education institution, announced the suspension of all campus operations for 2 to 7 days, which attracted online attention. According to people familiar with the matter, the institution's 10 campuses in Beijing may involve 17,9 students and more than 700 teachers.

A media investigation found that the big class bag is the consistent sales strategy of Orange Tree. In a group of nearly 400 rights defenders, parents spontaneously took the initiative to count the fees paid, among which the figure of large class bags frequently appeared, because the institution advertised that more than 1,2 yuan of actual payment can be given worth tens of thousands of yuan of class hours, attracting many parents to buy large lesson bags, many parents paid more than 4,2 yuan at a time, and some parents actually paid <>,<> yuan.

In the non-discipline training industry, large course packages are no longer new. Li Zhao (pseudonym), who lives in Xicheng District, Beijing, once enrolled his daughter in a swimming training class in Caoqiao, Fengtai District, which was sold in packages, starting from 30 small lesson packages and 120 large lesson packages.

"When I consulted, marketers kept recommending big school bags. Because the price of a single lesson is very different, most of the parents I know buy big lesson bags. Li Zhao said.

However, parents who originally wanted to "buy large school bags and lower the unit price of each class" frequently encountered institutions running away. Li Zhao told reporters that the non-disciplinary off-campus training courses such as piano, dance, and speech that she and several children from relatives' families have all encountered the situation of "running away", and "the extracurricular classes of four children in our entire big family have lost at least 4,10 yuan because of encountering 'running away'."

"When the child was eight years old, he signed up for a street dance agency, and paid a one-time discount for two years, which was more than 10,000 yuan cheaper. But the store closed the following year, and at least half of the classes were missing. Many parents who suffered losses chose to go through legal procedures, and eventually the lawsuit was won, but this organization simply did not have the money to pay the parents' losses. Miao Qing, a parent from Henan, said that now that two years have passed, the refund is far away, and the person in charge of this institution has always said, "Now there is no money, I am making money to pay off debts."

According to Yao Jinju, a professor at Beijing Foreign Chinese University and executive director of the Beijing Education Rule of Law Research Base, there are many reasons for the overcharging of training institutions, one is that training institutions are essentially profit-seeking, the other is that parents are prone to impulsive consumption when facing the marketing routines of training institutions, and the third is that the national policy is currently in a period of dynamic adjustment, and it cannot be ruled out that some off-campus training institutions want to "make a profit" before the policy is completely implemented.

Yao Jinju said that in order to achieve better regulatory effects, relevant departments should continue to adhere to the principles of public welfare, individualization and categorical governance of off-campus training, and curb the barbaric growth trend of off-campus training.

Control lesson limits

Merchants still sell big class bags

In fact, in order to prevent problems such as "difficulty in refunding" and "running away with money", the education department has already made relevant provisions on the advance fees of off-campus training institutions. In October 2021, six departments, including the Ministry of Education, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the People's Bank of China, issued the Notice on Strengthening the Supervision of Pre-Fees for Off-campus Training Institutions, which clearly requires that "training for primary and secondary school students shall not be paid by means of training loans." The charging period for off-campus training shall be coordinated with the teaching arrangement, and shall not be charged at one time or in the form of recharge, sub-card, etc. for a period of more than 10 months or 3 class hours."

In December 2022, the Ministry of Education and other thirteen departments issued the Opinions on Regulating Non-subject Off-campus Training for Primary and Secondary School Students (hereinafter referred to as the Opinions), which once again emphasized the above provisions. At the same time, in terms of the amount of one-time fees, the Opinions add a new provision that one-time fees shall not exceed 12,5000 yuan, so as to prevent excessive one-time fees from increasing capital risks and parents' burdens.

However, after randomly selecting 10 non-discipline training institutions for investigation and inquiry, the reporter found that almost all of them had problems of over-quota and over-time charges such as large class bags, which involved children's programming, physical fitness, swimming, tennis, street dance, skiing, equestrian, fencing and dance.

For example, Xiong Xiaomi Children's Swimming Pool (North Garden Store), the reporter came to the offline store as a parent of the student to inquire about the course system and charging standards. Among them, the price of water training courses is much more expensive than water play courses, and the duration and validity of the course package are longer. The course package is divided into 24, 48 and 96 sessions. After crossing out the corresponding original price of 11952 yuan, 23904 yuan and 47808 yuan respectively and counting the corresponding discount, the member price can be purchased at 7162 yuan, 11826 yuan and 18986 yuan.

The reporter said that the child is now 5 years old, and the sales consultant immediately recommended a course package that could be bought 96 times, which is valid for 18 months. The consultant said: "The more class hours, the more comprehensive the children will definitely learn, and the more class hours, the cheaper the average price." What effect can "face the reporter" achieve after 96 studies? The counselor hesitated and said, "At least make sure the child can learn breaststroke."

The course package of Kung Fu Babe Martial Arts Fighting Physical Fitness Hall is directly "big" to 200 class hours. According to the introduction of the staff of the institution, 48 class hours is about 1,200 yuan, and the larger capacity course package 2 class hours is very discounted, and <>,<> yuan can be won.

At the Happy Pony Kids Equestrian Club, the midweek class costs $600 to $700, and the weekend lesson costs around $800, including horse fees and coaching fees. Mid-week morning class packages are cheaper, with special price class packages of 24,1 yuan for 8 classes and 3,98 yuan for weekend class bags.

"The market price is like this, we are not expensive here" "This project is very popular, many parents bring their children to school, there are discounts for on-site registration" "There is no need to worry about the problem of lightning and running away, we are a large institution, there will be no capital security risk" ... This is the same sales term used by non-discipline training institutions encountered by reporters in the investigation, and its purpose is also to promote large course packages.

In this regard, Cai Hailong, deputy dean of the Institute of Education Policy and Law of Capital Normal University, believes that the regulatory requirements of relevant departments on the fee standards and charging methods of non-discipline off-campus training have not been well implemented and enforced, and one of the very important aspects is that the current education administrative law enforcement mechanism is not sound and perfect. Generally speaking, in order for a policy to be implemented, it is necessary to transform the relevant policy propositions into clear statutory duties, provide a clear legal basis for relevant administrative entities, require a considerable number of personnel with law enforcement qualifications, and have practical law enforcement procedures to ensure propriety and legality.

Chu Zhaohui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Education Sciences, believes that what any regulatory department and industry association can do is always limited, and if supervision and industry self-discipline can be combined, it may have a certain effect on controlling the chaos of the non-discipline off-campus training market. For training institutions, the need to make their behavior as transparent as possible is also an important aspect of enhancing their credibility. Parents should also be cautious about the various preferential policies proposed by merchants, and do not have the psychology of greed.

"In the process of specific policy formulation, through in-depth research, starting from practice, distinguishing the actual situation of different regions and different types of off-campus training, and designing more targeted excess charging standards." For example, some art courses have a high fee for a single lesson, and the duration of each class is different from that of other types of courses, so some policy distinctions can be considered. Yao Jinju said.

The charging behavior needs to be regulated

There are loopholes in the regulation of funds

The reporter noted that in the tips issued by the Ministry of Education and the China Consumers Association for off-campus training, it is also specifically mentioned that it is necessary to pay attention to the safety of payment, complete training payment through the national off-campus education and training supervision and service comprehensive platform, and do not pay training fees to any account other than the pre-charged fund supervision account by transfer or cash.

However, after interviewing 10 parents from Beijing, Henan, Anhui and other places, the reporter learned that these parents generally pay by credit card or WeChat, Alipay transfer, as for the state-stipulated off-campus training payment platform "National Off-campus Education and Training Supervision and Service Comprehensive Platform", they all said that they "have not heard of it", and the agency staff "have not introduced this", so "I don't know where my money has been transferred".

In the rights protection group provided by Miao Qing, a parent showed his transfer records at that time. The parent paid 5100,<> yuan by credit card, and the order showed that the account recorded was named "Henan Futian Department Store", but the transaction type was "car refueling". According to the parent's recollection, he was very confused and asked the staff of this street dance agency, but the answer given by the other party was vague "that's it."

Yao Jinju told reporters that the national comprehensive platform for off-campus education and training supervision and service is hosted by the Ministry of Education, and the Education Technology and Resource Development Center of the Ministry of Education (Central Electrochemical Education Hall) carries out website operation and maintenance. The construction of the platform mainly solves three problems: first, the service administrative department provides services for it in terms of institutional qualifications, training content, funds, service quality supervision, etc.; The second is to serve off-campus training institutions and build a platform for them in annual inspection and annual review services, opening stores, selling course services, information release services and consulting services; The third is to serve students' parents, and provide convenience for them to choose compliance institutions, purchase classes, book classes, cancel classes, refunds, evaluations, etc. At present, local education administrative departments at all levels have been able to conduct daily supervision, risk verification, real-time tracking and online scheduling management of off-campus training institutions online. Parents can register through the platform website or mobile app.

"Parents should rationally choose training programs and training institutions, establish awareness of risk prevention, and guard against false propaganda." Training payment must be completed through the national comprehensive platform for off-campus education and training supervision and service. Yao Jinju said that the national comprehensive platform for off-campus education and training supervision and service has functions such as "course verification" and "application for refund".

How can we further standardize the charging behavior of training and strengthen the supervision of pre-charged funds for off-campus training?

Xiong Bingqi, president of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, believes that relevant departments should serve and guide non-discipline training institutions to standardize their operations, understand the training needs of parents and children, and cannot manage problems through simple shutdown, and regulatory measures should achieve good governance. We should think about what constitutes good norms, good supervision and good social governance from the perspective of the rule of law. A good regulation will make the market more standardized, legal and compliant institutions better developed.

"The regulatory responsibilities of relevant entities should be clarified, and an institutional mechanism for multi-department linkage and coordinated law enforcement led by the education sector should be established, paying special attention to giving play to the role of market supervision departments and financial management departments." Cai Hailong suggested actively promoting the collation and revision of relevant laws and regulations, local regulations and normative documents, forming a necessary list of powers and responsibilities, and providing a clear legal basis for relevant management departments to carry out supervision according to law.

Cai Hailong also called for further optimization of supervision methods. In view of the problem of overcharging and prepayment of training institutions, consumers' risk awareness and avoidance ability should be strengthened by carrying out relevant legal popularization publicity and rule of law education; Establish enforcement mechanisms for routine supervision, and increase the frequency and intensity of investigation and handling of illegal fees. When necessary, it may be mandatory to use the national comprehensive platform for off-campus education and training supervision and service for fees. (Rule of Law Daily)