Under the "double reduction", parents encounter difficulties in refunding fees from education and training institutions
Wang Jing is the parent of an 8-year-old elementary school student in Beijing.
During this period, she encountered an annoyance: the online English training class that the child participated in could not go on, and she wanted to refund the fee, but encountered many difficulties.
"The children's English course we signed up for, bought more than 200 class hours at the time, and now there are more than 70 class hours left. I want to ask the company if it can refund the fee, but I can't contact them anyway." Wang Jing said.
In August of this year, the "Opinions on Further Reducing the Burden of Compulsory Education Students' Homework and Extra-School Training" (hereinafter referred to as the "Double Reduction" Policy") was officially passed, bringing about a huge change in the study and life of primary and middle school students.
However, the education and training institutions that have been hit have caused parents to be involved in one after another "refund whirlpool."
Parents' refunds at levels of checkpoints encounter institutional routines
According to the "double reduction" policy, the organization strictly prohibits hiring foreign personnel abroad to carry out training activities, and many online English training institutions that focus on foreign teachers have been affected.
"I am afraid that they will run away, so I went directly to their company." The institution where Wang Jing's children are taught is called Banyu English, which is a training institution that mainly teaches one-on-one online foreign teachers.
One day at the end of August, Wang Jing angrily decided to come to the company headquarters in Chaoyang District, Beijing.
"When I arrived, a person who claimed to be a sales manager told me that because I had free lessons and discounts, the refund can only be refunded based on the total price minus the original unit price of the course. I figured it out and the original price was 150 units. On average, I’m equivalent to 90 yuan per course. This calculation means that I have no fees to refund.” Wang Jing told a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that another parent who defended their rights had paid nearly two. The tuition fee of 10,000 yuan has not been attended yet, but the company said that it would either refund 50% or 70% at one time, in one year. The reason is to maintain the basic operation of the company.
Therefore, Wang Jing asked to see the company's superior, but the person in charge said that no matter who he saw, the answer was the same.
Wang Jing said that this person has no room for negotiation, nor can he come up with a refund system with official seals in black and white.
So she chose to call the police.
"After the police arrived, we explained the situation. The police suggested that I call the consumer rights protection number. Later, 12315 said that the Board of Education had replied to me, but I haven't received it yet."
Wang Jing's experience is not an individual case.
On August 17, at a press conference held by the Information Office of the Beijing Municipal People’s Government, Li Yi, deputy secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee’s Education Working Committee and spokesperson for the Municipal Education Commission, stated that the city’s six major measures to deepen the governance of off-campus training institutions are charged. According to regulations such as supervision, the investigation found that at the current stage, the most concentrated point of conflict is undoubtedly the "difficulty in refunding fees."
In some small education and training institutions, there are cases where parents cannot find institutions and teachers, and some institutions use various excuses to refuse refunds, and others reduce class hours in disguise when refunding fees.
The boss runs away, the institution goes bankrupt, and the salary of the teachers in the education and training institutions is also unrecoverable.
"Since late June, the company has been in arrears of wages. By the promised August 27, the wages were still not paid. The principal and finance of the school district called the boss and found out that the boss was missing. So we informed on August 28 The situation of the parent school.” said Teacher Gao from Chengdu Aibesi Jinniu Wukuishi campus.
According to the official website of Aibeisi, Aibeisi focuses on improving the quality of children between the ages of 3 and 16.
The company was established in 2014 and covered all prefecture-level cities in Sichuan in 2018. In 2020, it will open campuses in Shaanxi, Yunnan, Hubei and other places, bringing the total number of directly managed campuses to 100.
Prior to this, in response to news of the boss running away and other news, Aibesi issued a statement stating that it would retain the right to pursue legal liability for false information, but on August 28, its public claimed that the actual controller of the group, Xie Long, lost contact.
A parent said: “I have registered for 160 class hours, but I haven’t even attended a class. Later, we went to the institution and contacted the teacher. The door of the institution was locked. The teacher said that the boss ran away and asked everyone to defend their rights together."
There are a lot of problems, other institutions cannot accept the remaining class hours in full
In the context of "double reduction", many training institutions that cannot continue to operate have refused to refund fees. The number of people involved is large and the amount is high. Some institutions promised to transfer to other institutions to continue classes, but many parents did not buy it. .
Both Ms. Chen and Ms. Bi from Shenzhen signed up for PlayABC English courses for their children.
Ms. Bi told reporters that as of September 1, the corporate legal person of the training institution had been missing, and community staff reported that the police could not be contacted either.
"I have 167 classes left." Ms. Chen said, "There are about 160 children in our campus. Parents lost 20,000 yuan more and 5,000 yuan less."
Previously, the main body of the official account used by the training institution was Shenzhen Yuqi Yuyi Education Consulting Co., Ltd.
According to the company's investigation, the company's operating status was changed to cancellation on August 17, but the parents said that until August 27, teachers in the institution's WeChat group had issued check-in assignments.
Ms. Bi said that on August 28, the school sales company notified the company of bankruptcy and persuaded parents to transfer the remaining class hours to other training institutions.
However, some "acceptance" institutions accept up to 40 class hours, and some have to pay 60 yuan for each class. If you transfer to these institutions, the course must be completed within half a year. Leave is not allowed, and the class fee will be deducted.
"There are a lot of unreasonable terms for class transfers, and we definitely don't accept them." Ms. Chen said, "We registered for art classes ourselves before, and we don't need these classes, and these places are far away."
Not only that, but a tripartite agreement is also required to transfer classes. Parents worry about the legal effect of the transfer agreement and worry about the new institution running away again.
"I learned from the staff that there are currently about 158 parents who have suffered losses, involving more than 1.4 million yuan. This money is the hard-earned and hard-earned money earned by more than 100 parents who went out early and returned late. Previously, dozens of parents I went to the Nanshan District Committee in Shenzhen, and the government assigned it to the community. The amount was still being counted on August 30. Many parents went to the Public Security Bureau to report the case, but the case has not been filed. Now the parents are going to find a lawyer to sue." Ms. Bi said.
"I signed up for my child's ABC360 foreign teacher online live broadcast class. At present, the remaining amount of the course is about 17,000 yuan, but the course was forcibly cancelled on August 10." Ms. Jia from Beijing said.
It is understood that the ABC360 foreign teacher online live class belongs to Hangzhou Danyue Technology Co., Ltd. On August 26, the Binjiang District Bureau of Hangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau issued a warning notice on the WeChat public account stating that Li Mouyin, the legal representative of Hangzhou Danyue Technology Co., Ltd. Suspected of embezzlement, he was detained by Binjiang District Public Security Bureau in accordance with law on August 25, 2021.
On the same day, the company issued an open letter stating that it would provide users with courses from other institutions as an alternative.
Ms. Jia said that the institution closed down and the fee could not be refunded. The company provided parents with other alternative courses, which was not a reasonable way to deal with it.
"Before it was a live broadcast of online foreign teachers, but now it is a recorded and broadcast class. The value is not equal, and it is from another institution. The teacher does not serve us. Our parents' appeal is a refund."
Curriculum shrinks, parents can only eat "dumb loss"
Nowadays, the operating conditions of many training institutions are more or less affected.
Even if the boss doesn't run away, the institution opens classes normally, and the service "discount" happens from time to time.
Yang Qing from Beijing has a daughter who is in the second grade of elementary school. Now, her daughter has been taking English classes at a large, well-known training institution for more than two years.
"The training institution we selected is considered to be one of the largest in the country. Even when the epidemic was the most difficult, the institution was converted to online courses. It has not been easy to keep going until now." Yang Qing said.
However, not long ago, Yang Qing received a WeChat from the class teacher: “Due to policy reasons, foreign teachers are not allowed to attend classes in institutions, and our foreign teachers will not be able to attend classes in the future. Help us convert foreign teachers to Chinese teachers. Is it okay to switch to a Chinese teacher for one class hour?"
"In the beginning, we signed up for this English class because we were fancying more than 20% of foreign teachers. Now we directly tell us to cut it off without any compensation. I think it is unreasonable. After all, foreign teachers and Chinese teachers have The cost of teaching is definitely different. Even if it is converted, it cannot be directly converted 1:1." Yang Qing expressed his views to the class teacher.
Yang Qing said that although the class teacher’s WeChat message appeared to be "soliciting opinions," when he raised objections, the class teacher had no room to discuss, and said: "This foreign teacher class was not stopped because of the transformation of the organization, but because of the national policy. It is a hard requirement, so it is not a breach of contract and no compensation can be made."
Yang Qing said: "To be honest, children have been in school for so long and are used to this kind of teaching mode. As a parent, there is no way to simply ask for a refund and change to another institution. Now the training market is sluggish, and changing to another may not be as good as this. But After experiencing this, my heart is always angry."
"Because of policy adjustments, parents have to pay for the costs incurred by training institutions. Is this reasonable?" Yang Qing said.
Many relevant departments have started to take action in response to the current difficulties of parents in refunding fees and defending their rights.
On August 5, the Market Supervision Administration of Beijing Haidian District issued a message through its official WeChat that the number of refund disputes received by the bureau regarding education and training institutions was still at a high level. At the same time, it reminded consumers that when choosing an education and training institution, Pay attention to check whether the training institution has obtained a school permit issued by the Education Commission or the Social Security Department.
Do not believe it or not to express or implied guarantee promises made by the marketing staff of training institutions regarding training effects.
In addition, when signing a training contract, consumers should carefully check whether the relevant clauses in the contract on refunds are consistent with the promises of the marketing staff of the training institution. If they are inconsistent and the other party refuses to modify, it is recommended to choose carefully.
On August 30, at a press conference held by the Ministry of Education, Hu Yanpin, the first-level inspector of the Education Supervision Bureau of the Ministry of Education, stated that in some areas, not only was it before the "double reduction" policy was introduced, but also during the governance of training institutions. There is a problem of difficulty in refunding fees and even running away with money.
"For these problems, especially the problems of false publicity and difficulty in refunding fees, parents can report to the "Double Reduction" management and supervision platform, or report to the local functional department. We will also promptly issue payment risk reminders to remind parents not to predict Paying overdue and long training fees, local false publicity and payment discount traps. We will implement listing supervision for issues that seriously endanger the rights of parents, such as running money off the road." Hu Yanpin said.
(At the request of interviewees, all parents in the text are pseudonyms)
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Ye Yuting and intern Su Jingjing Source: China Youth Daily