China Consumers Association: Adjustment of off-campus education and training, new issues in the protection of consumer rights and interests


  Complaints about off-campus education and training increased by 43.4% year-on-year

  News from this newspaper (Reporter Wang Wei) Yesterday, the China Consumers Association released the "2021 Consumer Rights Protection Report in the Field of Off-campus Education and Training" (referred to as the "Report").

The "Report" pointed out that with the continuous deepening of the standardized governance of the off-campus education and training industry, as well as the transformation and development of the off-campus education and training industry, the protection of consumer rights and interests in the field of off-campus education and training will face new problems, which need to be paid great attention.

  The "Report" mentioned that my country's education reform has entered a deep-water period, and the intensively introduced policies will guide the reshuffle of the off-campus education and training industry. Or even "running away with money". On the other hand, some non-disciplinary training institutions that are not well-managed under the guise of policy factors take the opportunity to "dump the pot" and "get out of the shell" due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, resulting in some consumers facing "difficulty in attending classes" and "difficulty in refunding fees" ” and other issues, infringing upon the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.

  At the same time, since the new crown epidemic, the off-campus education and training industry has accelerated its online deployment, and consumer rights protection involves new issues such as online training institution qualification certification, reasonable assessment of training quality, open training courses, and consumer information protection.

It is also worth noting that the integration of online off-campus education and training with other industries has brought new problems, such as bundled sales, education loan supervision, hidden online games in online courses, etc.

  The "Report" shows that in 2021, due to the impact of the new crown epidemic and the governance policies of the off-campus education and training industry, public opinion on consumer rights protection and consumer complaints in the field of off-campus education and training in my country will show an upward trend.

In 2021, the National Consumers Association will accept a total of 80,528 complaints related to off-campus education and training, a year-on-year increase of 43.4%; education and training institutions are frequently running away and refunds have become one of the top ten consumer rights protection public opinion hotspots in 2021.

Complaint cases mainly focus on many contract disputes, difficult to solve after-sales problems, many means of false publicity, and high risk of prepaid consumption.

Among them, contracts are the main category of consumer complaints. In 2021, there will be 35,813 complaints about off-campus education and training related to contracts, accounting for 44.47%, ranking first.

  The China Consumers Association reminded that, by sorting out complaints, it was found that off-campus education and training institutions often used standard contracts to defend against consumers’ requests for refunds, and the clauses contained many contents that were unfair to consumers, such as concealing “the company reserves the final explanation. "No refund once the agreement is signed", "I will not be held responsible for any security accident during the training period", etc., or the contract contains other restrictions on refunds, and it is not reasonable to use bold, black, etc. way of prompting consumers.

Some off-campus education and training institutions take advantage of the lack of awareness of consumer contracts, and do not even sign formal contracts with consumers, or sales staff sign contracts on behalf of consumers, or use the Internet to default consumers to agree to the content of the agreement.

  The "Report" believes that the current off-campus training, as an important supplement to the education and training system, still has strong consumer demand. With the gradual implementation of relevant policies, the consumption risks associated with industry adjustment will be released one after another. Strengthening the protection of consumer rights and interests in off-campus education and training will cause highly valued.

  The China Consumers Association suggested that, first, for off-campus education and training, relevant legislation should be improved, and the existing policies on the definition of the nature of training institutions, establishment approval, education and teaching, use of teaching materials, fee supervision, service contracts, practitioners, legal responsibilities, etc. Explore the formulation of the "Social Education Promotion Law" to enhance and solidify its development, and promote the standardization of its development and the rule of law; strengthen collaborative governance to ensure that various policies and measures for the implementation of the "Double Reduction" Opinion are fully supported and effectively implemented; further clarify the main body of supervision and its responsibilities, strengthen communication and coordination inside and outside the supervision system, enrich grass-roots law enforcement forces, and improve the legal literacy of law enforcement personnel; establish a daily supervision and law enforcement mechanism, in addition to periodic special rectification actions, strengthen research on industry development laws, establish risk monitoring, research and judgment A long-term mechanism for early warning, early warning, and disposal; intensify the investigation and punishment of illegal acts by training institutions to ensure the safety of consumers’ prepaid funds; play the role of industry self-discipline, guide training institutions to set reasonable prices and standardize services, and give full play to consumer associations to participate in legislation, social supervision, and disputes. Mediation, public interest litigation, warning education and other responsibilities and roles, play the supervisory role of the news media, and jointly create a good consumption environment.