news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

zhihui island kindergarten in yongshan county, yunnan province, suddenly closed down 23 days after its opening, causing dissatisfaction among parents due to its refusal to refund tuition fees.

kindergarten involved

the parents had previously signed a "special education agreement" with the kindergarten, stipulating that the parents would pay a one-time three-year orientation fee (tuition) totaling 30,000 yuan, and the kindergarten promised to refund the full amount after the expiration of the period. in response, the head of the kindergarten said that the business was in difficulty and that the money would be returned when the kindergarten "recovered".

the "special education agreement" previously signed by parents and the kindergarten.

on september 19, an insider told the paper that 172 children from nine classes were involved, and a joint working group had been set up to conduct special investigations, transfer of children to kindergartens, legal aid and other related work. the public security authorities are conducting a comprehensive and in-depth investigation into whether the kindergarten's leaders were involved in any illegal or criminal acts.

a parent told the paper (www.thepaper.cn) that the chihuidao kindergarten, formerly known as "little harvard," has been operating in the local area for many years. the kindergarten had previously advertised that parents could get a full refund after their children had completed three years of kindergarten tuition by paying a lump sum of 30,000 yuan. in addition, this kindergarten started earlier and closed later than other schools, which successfully attracted many parents to sign up.

the "special education agreement" signed by the family and the kindergarten shows that party a and party b signed a special education agreement, party b paid a positioning fee of 30,000 yuan, and the agreement period is three years; party a promised that party b's child will not be charged any other fees (excluding student safety insurance, palm home usage fees, holiday clothing fees, extended custody fees, and kindergarten bus pick-up fees) until graduation from party a's kindergarten. in the future, if the child is admitted to the top ten universities in the country in the college entrance examination, the kindergarten will award a 5,000 yuan scholarship, and another 5,000 yuan if he is admitted to tsinghua university or peking university; party b pays the positioning fee to party a as a form of economic guarantee for keeping the agreement; after collecting the positioning fee, party a will issue a positioning fee receipt to party b as a receipt for payment and refund, and this receipt will be kept properly by party b. the positioning fee does not accrue interest. after the agreement between the two parties is terminated, party a will refund all the positioning fees to party b in one lump sum based on the positioning fee receipt.

"school started on august 19, and parents suddenly received a notice from the kindergarten on september 11, asking them to pick up their children." the above-mentioned parent said that after the news of the kindergarten's closure spread in the wechat group, parents asked for a refund, but were refused.

in a video of a conversation between parents and the head of the kindergarten, the head said, "when i make a comeback one day, i will definitely pay you back. if there is really no way for me to get back on track, please understand", "if you insist on thinking it is a scam, we have no choice but to go through legal procedures to divide the responsibilities", "we will not deliberately defraud you. we are indeed experiencing operational difficulties and have been working hard."

some parents posted on social media that the kindergarten involved was suspected of illegal fund-raising, saying, "the kindergarten used the pretext of running a school to siphon huge amounts of money from parents. it filed for bankruptcy and liquidation, and the funds are nowhere to be found." they have submitted receipts and copies of contracts to the police as required, and are waiting for the final results of the investigation.

the paper noted that yongshen county zhihuidao kindergarten co., ltd. was established in august 2021. its legal representative is hu tingfeng, and its licensed business scope is a for-profit private kindergarten.

on january 29 this year, the education and sports bureau of yongshan county released a list of schools in the county, and yongshan county zhihuidao kindergarten was among them.

the paper called the kindergarten’s public phone number several times to inquire about the matter, but the message always said “powered off.”

on september 19, a staff member of the yongshen county education and sports bureau told the paper that multiple departments in the county have jointly handled the matter.

the paper learned from an insider that the owner of zhihuidao kindergarten is a local. due to poor management, he suddenly announced on september 11 that he could no longer run the school and planned to file for bankruptcy. after the incident, multiple departments in yongshan county quickly set up a joint working group to carry out special investigations, kindergarten transfers, legal aid and other related work.

"the local government attaches great importance to the issue of children's enrollment and gives it priority. the education and sports bureau actively mobilized kindergartens in the county area, whether public or private, to take the initiative to provide transfer services to ensure that children can enter school smoothly." the insider told the paper that the kindergarten has 9 classes with a total of 172 children this semester. as of september 18, 156 children have transferred to other kindergartens, 7 children have recently registered for admission, 6 children will register for admission after they turn three years old, and the remaining 3 children are still being mobilized to enter the kindergarten.

another parent of a young child confirmed to the paper that her child has now been transferred to a public kindergarten, and the tuition she paid for the zhihuidao kindergarten has not been refunded to date.

"one child involves one family, and the local authorities will protect the interests of the students' parents to the greatest extent possible." the aforementioned insider revealed that the court has taken preservation measures on the property involved. as for whether the person in charge of the kindergarten is involved in any illegal or criminal behavior, the public security organs are conducting a comprehensive and in-depth investigation.