"In principle, there is no upper limit for purchasing courses. The more you buy, the more you get for free."
Recently, the Beijing News Shell Finance reporter made unannounced visits to five education and training institutions. Although the new regulations stipulate that "class time cannot occupy weekends" and "one-time "The fee shall not exceed 60 class hours" and other red lines, but the phenomenon of skirting the edge still exists.
reporters noticed that in order to get parents to buy more classes, sales staff often offer temptations to buy more and get discounts. During the interview, Mr. Zhang from Jinbo Education told reporters that a maximum of 240 class hours can be purchased at a 15% discount, and showed information about parents purchasing 300 class hours at a time, with a total order amount of up to 110,000 yuan. During the consultation period, in order to encourage reporters to purchase large-amount lesson packages, Teacher Zhang promised that there is no time limit on lesson consumption, and children can still use it without increasing the price when they advance to senior grades.
Large-scale course packages are prevalent, and there are different ways to cancel classes, and making up classes on weekends is one of the methods. A Zhizhen Education salesperson told reporters that "good teachers are basically fully booked on weekends," and the institution also has ways to avoid supervision. "The sixth floor is usually used secretly for children to have one-on-one cultural classes on weekends."
In recent years, a tacit understanding has been formed between parents and institutions by charging high one-time prepaid class fees - parents can save money by buying more and giving more, and institutions charge funds in advance to flow quickly. These seemingly "win-win" situations often leave a mess when institutions fail.
After the release of the " double reduction " policy, supervision continued to regulate the development of the industry. On October 27, the General Office of the Ministry of Education issued a notice deploying the establishment of a verification mechanism for off-campus training institutions, clarifying that before October 31, all provincial education administrative departments must ensure that all off-campus training institutions in the region are registered on the platform, 11 The base number of off-campus training institutions in the region will be formed before March 15th.
Actual Investigation
Institutions are crazy about large-amount lesson packages , weekend supplementary classes are " hidden corners"
courses are packaged and sold, which has become an unspoken rule of industry promotion.
In mid-October, a reporter from Shell Finance investigated five education and training institutions as parents. Free classes and discounts are still the main promotion methods, and sales staff are not shy about large-scale course packages that exceed 100 class hours at a time. These institutions are among the top ones when searching for relevant training courses.
"The more you buy, the more you get for free." During the phone call, Zhizhen Education sales teacher Zeng told the Shell Finance reporter that the minimum registration time for classes starts at 40 hours, and there are different discounts when the number of class hours reaches a certain stage. Sensing the reporter's hesitation, Teacher Zeng declared that children can also attend classes on weekends. "Good teachers are basically fully booked on weekends. If they don't make arrangements, they may not be able to attend." After
learned about the reporter’s needs for class registration, Teacher Zeng took the initiative to add the reporter’s WeChat account, and in the following days urged the reporter to take his children to try out the course every few days.
On October 20, a reporter from Shell Finance went to the Chaoyang No. 1 branch of Zhizhen Education. Upon arrival, they saw an enrollment promotion advertisement facing the elevator at the door. However, the advertisement did not mention cultural class training, but vigorously promoted youth eloquence training. .
It was a Wednesday, and there were only three teachers in the institution. According to Teacher Zeng, the rooms on the third floor are all spoken language training classrooms for teenagers, while the cultural course tutoring is located on the sixth floor of the building. “The sixth floor is usually used secretly, specifically for children to have one-on-one cultural class tutoring on weekends.”
When talking about course prices, Teacher Zeng took out a pen and paper and made a calculation - parents can choose several different class packages, buy 100 class hours and get 29 class hours, buy 120 class hours and get 36 class hours, buy 180 class hours and get 53 Up to 57 class hours, "in principle, there is no upper limit for purchasing classes."
Teacher Zeng explained to reporters how to buy courses more cost-effectively.
In the meantime, in order to dispel reporters' concerns about suspected illegal make-up lessons, Teacher Zeng said that Zhizhen Education has completely transformed externally and has switched to eloquence training. Cultural course tutoring relies entirely on mutual recommendations from parents and does not open enrollment.At present, Zhizhen Education's quality education training has obtained a national business license, and has branches in Shilibao , Wangjing , Zaoyuan and other places. The company under which this institution belongs, New Thinking Group, has been established for 15 years. , its business scope includes early childhood education, quality education, cultural class training, training from education and training institutions in the same industry, and youth outdoor activities.
In fact, it is doubtful that Zhizhen Education does not open its enrollment. When reporters search for Chinese language training, they can see this top-ranked institution. Click on the page to register the sales staff’s mobile phone number, and you can inquire about purchasing courses. During the investigation by
reporters, the same course registration process also appeared in Jinbo Education. Salesperson Mr. Zhang told the Shell Finance reporter that classes can be held on weekends, but "in principle" one cannot purchase more than the 60 class hours for a single subject stipulated by the state, but the specific content was not disclosed over the phone.
On the evening of October 20, the reporter followed the location sent by Teacher Zhang to the gate of Shijingshan No. 1 Campus and looked around. The campus is located in a commercial and residential building, and there are no obvious company house numbers or signs. According to Teacher Zhang, this is a class location in Jinbo Education Shijingshan . It is both commercial and residential and is not easily noticed. There are two other class locations scattered nearby.
Mr. Zhang claimed to be the person in charge of Jinbo Education’s Shijingshan Campus and Fengtai Campus. After introducing in detail Jinbo Education’s school-running philosophy, curriculum planning for children and teachers’ weekly class planning, he offered reporters a discount for purchasing courses: Parents can still purchase it. For large-value lesson packs, the more you buy, the greater the discount. You can get a 15% discount when you buy up to 240 lessons.
Afterwards, Teacher Zhang showed reporters that in a Beijing performance group, some parents purchased 300 lessons at a time, with a total amount of up to 110,000 yuan. The reporter's rough calculation shows that if classes are held twice a week, for two hours each time, and classes are never interrupted, it will take at least a year and a half to consume all 300 class hours.
Teacher Zhang said that once parents purchase the course, there is no limit on the time spent in the course, and children can still use it without increasing the price when they advance to senior grades. When a reporter asked whether it was illegal to purchase high-cost course packages, the other party replied that only contracts signed by campuses on the white list will be uploaded for review.
Shell Finance reporter visited and learned that currently the three major domestic education giants New Oriental , TAL and Gao Tuduo adopt the form of semester class teaching. Parents pay their children’s class fees for one semester at a time, and then attend classes according to the class schedule for one week. One lesson. However, there are many temptations to package and sell courses and some side-stepping behaviors.
reporter talked with New Oriental sales staff.
New Oriental sales staff told Shell Finance reporters that one-on-one classes can be purchased according to class packages: 42 class hours enjoy a 15% discount, 82 class hours enjoy a 20% discount, and 122 class hours enjoy a 25% discount. You can purchase 122 lessons at a time for a single subject, but in order to comply with national regulations, these 122 lessons must include at least two lessons of other courses. For example, parents can purchase 120 lessons of English + 1 lesson of mathematics + 1 lesson of Chinese.
New Oriental sales staff show the discounts for purchasing different classes.
Supervision
"Fighting the wind" weekend make-up classes, to combat chaos should strengthen "on-the-job supervision"
Shell Finance reporters found in an interview that large-amount class time packages are prevalent, and there are ways to cancel classes. The sales staff of Zhizhen Education and Jinbo Education both said that cultural classes can be arranged for tutoring on weekends. Teachers have almost full classes from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends. "Nowadays, parents are looking for teachers, and good teachers are in short supply. Our cultural class training is conducted in secret."
In addition, in order to absorb the large one-time purchase of course packages, most institutions promise that the class hours are common to all subjects and that there is no limit on the span of class cancellation. During an unannounced visit by a reporter from Shell Finance, sales staff from three educational institutions, Zhizhen Education, Jinbo Education and New Oriental, made it clear that as long as you purchase the lesson package, you can take any classes you want in the future, and “If you can’t finish elementary school, you can use it in junior high school, and if you can’t finish it in junior high school, you can use it.” For high school use.”
On October 13, the Ministry of Education issued the "Off-campus Training Service Contract for Primary and Secondary Schools (Model Text)", which stipulates that the end time of off-campus training in the compulsory education stage shall not be later than 8:30 offline, and no later than 9:00 online, and each class period shall not be If it exceeds 30 minutes, the interval between classes must not be less than 10 minutes, and class time cannot take up weekends and other holidays.
The Ministry of Education clearly states that education and training institutions are not allowed to charge Party B for fees that span more than 60 class hours at one time or in disguised form and not exceed 3 months. At the same time, refunds should be received within 20 working days after parents request a refund.
The high prepayment raises the hidden danger of difficulty in refunding. As early as 2018, in order to regulate the brutal development of the education and training industry, the Education Bureau issued a notice requiring institutions to charge no more than 60 prepaid lessons or charge more than three months. This year, Beijing Municipal Education Commission reported on the progress of the city’s special management of off-campus training institutions. For the first time, it published a black and white list of off-campus training institutions in the city. 474 off-campus training institutions were on the list.
Since September this year, Beijing Dongcheng, Fengtai, Fangshan, Tongzhou, Changping, Daxing, Huairou, Miyun and other places have successively announced the first batch of white lists of subject-based training institutions. 152 institutions are on the list, including New Oriental, Xueersi and other education and training industry giants. Since then, Shenzhen, Jinhua in Zhejiang, Nanchang in Jiangxi and other places have successively announced white lists.
Dean of the 21st Century Education Research Institute Xiong Bingqi told Shell Finance reporters that high prepayments are nothing new. Faced with the anxious marketing offensive of training institutions, many parents even "actively cooperate" with the institution's illegal operations, such as the institution's early teaching , this is exactly what parents want. In addition, the agency requires parents to pay a one-time fee for one or even two years. With the temptation of discounts and the possibility of becoming one of the most valued VIP customers, parents who want their children to receive more attention will find it difficult to refuse.
Regarding the closure of institutions and the lack of refunds for parents, Dean Xiong said that on the one hand, it is necessary to strengthen self-discipline in the training industry and educate parents to choose training institutions rationally. On the other hand, we will strengthen "in-process supervision" and implement strong process supervision. At present, the regulatory authorities mainly adopt the "post-facto model" in supervising education and training institutions, that is, only after problems arise in the institutions and parents report them, the regulatory authorities initiate supervision and conduct investigations. By this time, violations and infringements have already occurred.
Dean Xiong believes that it is difficult to stop institutions that are currently unlicensed and unlicensed. Last year, Shanghai conducted a thorough survey of the training market and identified nearly 7,000 education and training institutions, including more than 3,200 with business licenses but no education and training qualifications, and more than 1,300 operating without a license. In other words, only about 30% of education and training institutions are completely legal. "The situation is similar across the country, even more serious than the problem in Shanghai." In actual supervision, these unlicensed and licensed institutions have long been in the gray area of "two no-nos" - the education department does not care, and the industrial and commercial departments do not care. The department doesn’t care either.
Whether it is the “live-in teacher” on the hot search or the booming education and training institutions, they all reflect the market’s urgent need for education and training. "Due to the strong demand for training, some unlicensed and unlicensed institutions that were closed still operate privately and continue to resurface once the limelight has passed, and many parents have not checked the qualifications of the institutions." Dean Xiong believes that it is necessary to solve the problem For these problems, we must adjust our governance thinking, be problem-oriented, innovate the supervision system of training institutions, and guide parents’ training needs from the source.
Dean Xiong suggested that the supervision system of for-profit private education and training institutions should be reformed in conjunction with the " Private Education Promotion Law ", the training institutions should be included in the supervision system, and a new supervision system of industrial and commercial registration + education filing + risk reserves should be established . At the same time, we must also realize that my country’s single score evaluation system has created strong demand for subject education and training from students and parents, and to control training chaos. Fundamentally speaking, to control the demand for training, we need to promote Reform the evaluation system and effectively establish a multi-evaluation system.
Official actions to regulate education and training institutions are still in full swing.On October 27, in order to further implement the "double reduction" work requirements and comprehensively improve the precision, scientificity, and informatization level of comprehensive management of off-campus education and training, the General Office of the Ministry of Education issued a notice requiring all localities to give full play to the "double reduction" The coordination function of the mechanism is to work with relevant departments to conduct inspections on city and county verifications to ensure that there are no omissions in the base numbers and that the information is accurate. All counties (cities, districts) must organize and carry out self-examination, conduct a comprehensive survey of off-campus training institutions, classify and file them, and mark them one by one, so as to include all the institutions that should be included without leaving any dead ends or omissions.
A notice from the General Office of the Ministry of Education pointed out that all localities should carry out normalized and intelligent supervision of online and offline off-campus education and training through "Internet + supervision". The Ministry of Education has built a national comprehensive platform for the supervision and service of off-campus education and training. All localities must use the platform to form a base of off-campus training institutions. Off-campus training institutions should use the platform to improve information on institutions, training personnel, training materials, funds and other information and update it in real time. At the same time, attention should be paid to strictly distinguishing between online education and online education and training.
Beijing News Shell Finance Reporter Li Menghan Editor Wang Jinyu Proofreading Liu Baoqing
