Anger as cramming schools fold
Print Edition
A CRAMMING school chain with around 30 branches in Shanghai has closed suddenly, leaving students, parents and teachers in the lurch.
The doors of the headquarters of Yisi Training in Hongkou District were locked yesterday, with a police notice advising parents to go to a nearby police station.
Also posted were notices from the building property management company.
These stated that Yisi had not paid rent totaling 255,000 yuan (US$41,129) between November and January and more than 30,000 yuan in property management fees.
The closure angered parents who’d paid tens of thousands of yuan in tuition fees, and teachers who had not received any pay for months.
Education training centers like Yisi Training offer courses in subjects such as Chinese, English and mathematics to help middle and high school improve grades and prepare for the university entrance exam.
At the police station on Gaoyang Road, parents were reporting their cases yesterday. An officer said an investigation is under way.
Li Huirong, the mother of a high school student, said she paid 4,800 yuan for 12 mathematics courses at the center’s branch in Xinzhuang in Minhang District. Her child had only been in class for six times.
“I learned something was wrong from a teacher who said he hadn’t received his salary for five months. Now I just want a refund,” Li said.
A father surnamed Lu said he paid 15,660 yuan for courses Yisi’s Meilong branch, also in Minhang, but his child only attended twice.
“My child’s English teacher told me there were problems,” Lu said.
The head teacher of the Meilong branch told Lu he had been cheated as well.
A security guard at the Hongkou headquarters said around 100 angry parents had descended there demanding refunds.
However, Yisi boss Xu Guoming told a Shanghai Television reporter that he had no money.
“I’d have to pay 10 million yuan if all the fees are refunded. The cash flow is broken and I’ve nothing to pay them back with,” Xu said in a phone interview.
Private training institutes are required to set up a deposit account and put 10 percent of their capital there under city regulations. However, Yisi Training has no such account.
Yuan Wen, deputy director of the city education commission, said Yisi had registered as a technology company, not a training institute.
“Yisi exceeded its operational scope by teaching and was operating illegally,” Yuan said.
Xu said he hoped to resume classes. “I’ll ask friends to manage and students can continue classes if they want,” he said.
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