Pengpai News reporter Zhu Yuanxiang
"This year's Children's Day starts with protecting children's rights." At around 5 a.m. on June 1, lawyer Xie Yanping sent this text message on his circle of friends, and later distributed a "sad" emoji.
Xie Yanping is also a young mother. In order to get early teaching fees for her two-year-old child, she spent all night in the police station with dozens of parents on May 31, communicating with investors and lawyers of early education institutions. The stalemate was still at 6 a.m. on Children's Day. The other party told the parents bluntly that there was no money.
Lerong Children's Home Yizhuang Campus. Currently closed. Except for the label, the pictures in this article are all interviewees. Photo provided by
The early education institution involved is the Yizhuang Campus of "Lerong Children's Home", located on Ronghua Middle Road, Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone. On the eve of Children's Day on June 1st, Beijing Tongyou Education Consulting Co., Ltd., which operates the campus, announced to employees that the company had been dissolved due to financial difficulties and the campus had stopped operating.
After the Yizhuang campus of Lerong Children's Home was closed, more than 30 employees' two-month salary was owed. What’s even more troublesome is that more than 500 parents have difficulty getting back the prepaid tuition fees - a total of more than 6 million yuan.
htmlOn June 6, the headquarters of Lerong Children's Home informed parents that it was preparing to take over the Yizhuang campus and that it had drafted a relevant agreement, but it still needed to negotiate with the original investor of the campus. On the 9th, a reporter from Pengpai News called Feng Jiatong, an investor at the Yizhuang campus of Lerong Children's Home, but he did not answer the phone or sent a message. Staff at the headquarters of Lerong Children's Home said that the "Yizhuang Campus Handling Group" is handling related matters.Employee: The investor announced the company's disbandment in the WeChat group, and his salary was not paid for two months
Wu Fang (pseudonym) is a teacher at the Yizhuang campus of Lerong Children's Home. He has been working for more than a year. She told The Paper that the Yizhuang campus was officially opened in August 2020. There are more than 500 students this year. Except for the two childcare classes, most of them participate in early education.
On April 24, 2022, due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, Lerong Children's Home Yizhuang Campus suspended classes after receiving the notice. Wu Fang and more than 30 colleagues temporarily left the campus. They agreed to the salary proposed by their boss: during the suspension of classes, each person will be paid 2,320 yuan per month.
Wu Fang remembers that on May 10, it was time to pay the April salary. The boss Feng Jiatong asked everyone to wait, "She said she had no money and was borrowing from the bank." On May 30, the teachers reminded the school again that the salary should be paid, but Feng Jiatong did not receive a response.
"We call our boss's phone and don't answer our phone." Wu Fang felt that the situation was wrong. On the afternoon of May 30, investor Feng Jiatong's work group on WeChat suddenly sent a "Letter to All Colleagues".
This letter is stamped with the seal of "Beijing Tongyou Education Consulting Co., Ltd.". The letter stated that due to the impact of the epidemic and other factors, the company was heavily in debt and had no funds to continue operating. "Now I can only let the pain notify everyone: Beijing Tongyou Education Consulting Co., Ltd. was dissolved early and was forced to stop operating."
"After seeing the notice of dissolution, we went to the school, the door was locked, and we couldn't get in." Wu Fang said that the company also owed 36 employees two months of wages, plus the two-month payment of social security and housing provident fund , a total of more than 400,000 yuan.
According to multiple employees interviewed, 36 employees of Lerong Children's Home Yizhuang Campus have submitted an arbitration application to the Labor Dispute Arbitration Committee of Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone.
Some employees revealed that after the school issued a "dissolution notice", they asked everyone not to tell their parents first, but some employees felt that they should inform their parents to protect their rights together. Therefore, the news that the campus of Lerong Children's Home Yizhuang was closed soon spread among parents.
Parents: The tuition fees for early education and childcare cannot be returned to
Parent Ms. Yan remembered that in October 2021, she bought 60 early education classes for her two-year-old son. At that time, she transferred 16,200 yuan to the company account of the investor in Lerong Children's Home Yizhuang campus, but the company (school) did not issue an invoice.
Ms. Yan was anxious after learning that the school was closed on May 30. Her son's early childhood education class was about half, and now he should have more than 8,000 yuan left.
Pengpai News reporter Zhu Yuanxiang
"This year's Children's Day starts with protecting children's rights." At around 5 a.m. on June 1, lawyer Xie Yanping sent this text message on his circle of friends, and later distributed a "sad" emoji.
Xie Yanping is also a young mother. In order to get early teaching fees for her two-year-old child, she spent all night in the police station with dozens of parents on May 31, communicating with investors and lawyers of early education institutions. The stalemate was still at 6 a.m. on Children's Day. The other party told the parents bluntly that there was no money.
Lerong Children's Home Yizhuang Campus. Currently closed. Except for the label, the pictures in this article are all interviewees. Photo provided by
The early education institution involved is the Yizhuang Campus of "Lerong Children's Home", located on Ronghua Middle Road, Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone. On the eve of Children's Day on June 1st, Beijing Tongyou Education Consulting Co., Ltd., which operates the campus, announced to employees that the company had been dissolved due to financial difficulties and the campus had stopped operating.
After the Yizhuang campus of Lerong Children's Home was closed, more than 30 employees' two-month salary was owed. What’s even more troublesome is that more than 500 parents have difficulty getting back the prepaid tuition fees - a total of more than 6 million yuan.
htmlOn June 6, the headquarters of Lerong Children's Home informed parents that it was preparing to take over the Yizhuang campus and that it had drafted a relevant agreement, but it still needed to negotiate with the original investor of the campus. On the 9th, a reporter from Pengpai News called Feng Jiatong, an investor at the Yizhuang campus of Lerong Children's Home, but he did not answer the phone or sent a message. Staff at the headquarters of Lerong Children's Home said that the "Yizhuang Campus Handling Group" is handling related matters.Employee: The investor announced the company's disbandment in the WeChat group, and his salary was not paid for two months
Wu Fang (pseudonym) is a teacher at the Yizhuang campus of Lerong Children's Home. He has been working for more than a year. She told The Paper that the Yizhuang campus was officially opened in August 2020. There are more than 500 students this year. Except for the two childcare classes, most of them participate in early education.
On April 24, 2022, due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, Lerong Children's Home Yizhuang Campus suspended classes after receiving the notice. Wu Fang and more than 30 colleagues temporarily left the campus. They agreed to the salary proposed by their boss: during the suspension of classes, each person will be paid 2,320 yuan per month.
Wu Fang remembers that on May 10, it was time to pay the April salary. The boss Feng Jiatong asked everyone to wait, "She said she had no money and was borrowing from the bank." On May 30, the teachers reminded the school again that the salary should be paid, but Feng Jiatong did not receive a response.
"We call our boss's phone and don't answer our phone." Wu Fang felt that the situation was wrong. On the afternoon of May 30, investor Feng Jiatong's work group on WeChat suddenly sent a "Letter to All Colleagues".
This letter is stamped with the seal of "Beijing Tongyou Education Consulting Co., Ltd.". The letter stated that due to the impact of the epidemic and other factors, the company was heavily in debt and had no funds to continue operating. "Now I can only let the pain notify everyone: Beijing Tongyou Education Consulting Co., Ltd. was dissolved early and was forced to stop operating."
"After seeing the notice of dissolution, we went to the school, the door was locked, and we couldn't get in." Wu Fang said that the company also owed 36 employees two months of wages, plus the two-month payment of social security and housing provident fund , a total of more than 400,000 yuan.
According to multiple employees interviewed, 36 employees of Lerong Children's Home Yizhuang Campus have submitted an arbitration application to the Labor Dispute Arbitration Committee of Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone.
Some employees revealed that after the school issued a "dissolution notice", they asked everyone not to tell their parents first, but some employees felt that they should inform their parents to protect their rights together. Therefore, the news that the campus of Lerong Children's Home Yizhuang was closed soon spread among parents.
Parents: The tuition fees for early education and childcare cannot be returned to
Parent Ms. Yan remembered that in October 2021, she bought 60 early education classes for her two-year-old son. At that time, she transferred 16,200 yuan to the company account of the investor in Lerong Children's Home Yizhuang campus, but the company (school) did not issue an invoice.
Ms. Yan was anxious after learning that the school was closed on May 30. Her son's early childhood education class was about half, and now he should have more than 8,000 yuan left.Parents who received the news formed a WeChat group and everyone decided to report the case to the police.
htmlOn May 31, many parents came to the Tianhua Road Police Station of Daxing Branch of Beijing Public Security Bureau to report to the police that the boss ran away.Screenshot of the payment record of Mr. Yin, the parent.
Mr. Yin, the parent, also rushed to the police station that day. He bought early education classes for his son in June 2021, and now he has more than 4,000 yuan left. During the "Double Eleven" last year, he took advantage of the discount activities to buy another childcare class for his child and paid 72,000 yuan at one time. He originally planned to send his child to childcare class in May this year, but he heard the news that the school was closed.
Two fee details stamped by Beijing Tongyou Education Consulting Co., Ltd. and signed by Feng Jiatong, the legal representative of , , show that the remaining amount (not attending classes) of parents after they paid their tuition fees, totaling 6106,084.79 yuan, of which more than 1.69 million yuan for childcare and more than 4.41 million yuan for early education, involving a total of 503 children who have paid the tuition fees.
After receiving the report from parents, on May 31, police from Tianhua Road Police Station notified investor Feng Jiatong to explain the situation at the police station. Feng Jiatong and her attorney rushed to the police station that day.
"She has a lawyer, and we also have a lawyer." Some parents quickly notified Xie Yanping to come over. Xie Yanping is a partner of a law firm in Beijing. In December 2021, he bought early education classes for his child at 8,600 yuan, and only attended two or three classes at the Yizhuang campus of Lerong Children's Home.
On the evening of May 31, Xie Yanping, who had finished working overtime, rushed to Tianhua Road Police Station.
Xie Yanping told The Paper that the police are currently coordinating.
On that day, Xie Yanping and dozens of parents stayed in the police station all night until the morning of Children's Day on June 1st. The parents' face-to-face communication with Feng Jiatong and his lawyers did not make any substantial progress. "They just said that there was no money and they could not refund the fees."
major shareholder: The company was forced to stop operating due to insufficient income, and the debt was more than 5 million
, Feng Jiatong, who became the target of public criticism, is the major shareholder and legal representative of Beijing Tongyou Education Consulting Co., Ltd. According to industrial and commercial information, the company was established in May 2019 with a registered capital of 1 million yuan.
Lerong Children's Home Yizhuang Campus Investment letter announcing the "dissolution" to employees.
On May 30, after the Lerong Children's Home Yizhuang Campus announced that the operation of Lerong Children's Home Yizhuang Campus was stopped, the campus employees and parents could not contact Feng Jiatong, and the news of "the boss ran away" began to spread.
On May 31, after receiving the call from Tianhua Road Police Station, the police officers of Tianhua Road Police Station called Feng Jiatong in front of their parents: "If there is any illegal crime, we will crack down on it according to law. If it is just a business act, it can be resolved through negotiation or litigation." The police asked Feng Jiatong to come to the police station to explain the situation.
After coming to Tianhua Road Police Station that afternoon, Feng Jiatong was surrounded by groups of parents and asked her to give an explanation.
On May 31, investors in Lerong Children's Home Yizhuang Campus were questioned by parents.
A video taken by parents shows that Feng Jiatong is wearing jeans, a black top and a black mask, standing in the center of the police station courtyard; the parents surrounding the surroundings keep a certain distance. "I just learned that some parents transferred the money directly to the principal... I have to reconcile the accounts after I go back." Feng Jiatong said.
Faced with the question of parents’ “what to do”, Feng Jiatong said that she “would communicate with the headquarters.” Is there any solution? Feng Jiatong did not provide a solution after communicating face-to-face with parents.
What exactly is the reason that caused the Yizhuang campus of Lerong Children's Home, which has been open for less than two years, to stop operating?
In "A Letter to All Colleagues", Feng Jiatong said that due to the repeated epidemic, the school has been "opening and stopping" for two years, and the company has not made enough money to spend. After using all the registered capital of 1 million yuan, borrowing money from all over the country, and borrowing from foreign countries is as high as more than 5 million yuan. Today, "there is no borrowing funds for us to continue operating."
In the letter announcing the suspension of operations of the campus, Feng Jiatong did not mention how to repay the wages owed to employees and how to deal with the prepaid tuition fees of parents.
htmlOn June 9, in order to understand the situation, a reporter from The Paper called Feng Jiatong many times. Feng did not answer the phone or reply to the text message.In recent years, off-campus training institutions have frequently encountered "running money away" and "difficulty in refunding fees".In order to prevent similar problems, in October 2021, the Ministry of Education, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the People's Bank of China and other six departments jointly issued the "Notice on Strengthening the Supervision of Pre-charges for Off-campus Training Institutions", requiring bank custody on the pre-charges for training institutions in various places, and establish a pre-charge risk deposit for .
A pre-charges for Lerong Children's Home Yizhuang Campus after October 2021 are included in the regulatory channels for bank custody? It is not known yet.
Brand owner: The headquarters is preparing to take over the campus involved, and is still dealing with
As an investor and franchisee, Feng Jiatong is no longer able to operate the campus of Lerong Children's Home Yizhuang due to financial difficulties. So how do Beijing Lerong Education Consulting Co., Ltd., as a brand owner, deal with this?
June 2, Lerong Children's Home Headquarters made relevant information.
, founded in 2015, Beijing Lerong Education Consulting Co., Ltd. is owned by Chongqing Xuehui Enterprise Management Consulting Co., Ltd. 100% stake in . "Lerong Children's Home" is its brand and provides early education and other services for infants and young children aged 0-6. According to its website, Lerong Children's Home currently has nearly 50 centers across the country, covering more than 20 key cities across the country.
After the Yizhuang Campus of "Lerong Children's Home" stopped operating, on June 4, Beijing Lerong Education Consulting Co., Ltd. issued a "Statement on Lerong Children's Home (Yizhuang Campus)" to parents. The "Statement" states that the Yizhuang Campus of Lerong Children's Home is an "independently operated campus" organized by Beijing Tongyou Education Consulting Co., Ltd. The headquarters of Lerong Children's Home is currently communicating and negotiating with the investors of Yizhuang Campus.
"I think their legal relationship (Lerong Children's Home Headquarters and Yizhuang Campus) is a franchise relationship." As a parent, lawyer Xie Yanping believes that according to the "Regulations on Commercial Franchise Management", brand holding companies should register with the commercial authorities and fulfill corresponding obligations, such as guidance and supervision of franchise operations.
Xie Yanping believes that Lerong Headquarters should bear corresponding responsibilities for the suspension and subsequent disposal of the Yizhuang campus of Lerong Children's Home.
htmlOn June 4, Beijing Lerong Education Consulting Co., Ltd. also issued the "Instructions on Recent Progress of the Lerong Yizhuang Campus and Preliminary Opinions on Later Solutions" to parents, stating that the company's headquarters has established an emergency working group to handle the Yizhuang Campus incident; through docking with the investors of Yizhuang Campus, a solution has been proposed - the headquarters will provide parents with the remaining class hours of continuous course services at the original venue, and some issues need to be further discussed.The remaining amount of tuition fees (not attended) counted by the school.
htmlOn June 6, according to the parents interviewed, Lerong Children's Home Headquarters informed the parents of the "work progress": relevant agreements have been drafted and the original investors of Yizhuang Campus have been feedback; the site sublease, the inauguration survey of employees in the original campus and the supplementary recruitment of other work are also underway. htmlOn the afternoon of June 9, a reporter from The Paper called Lerong Children's Home to inquire about this matter. The staff later called back and said that the "Yizhuang Campus Handling Team" was handling matters related to the Yizhuang Campus.Editor in charge: Cui Xuan Photo editor: Zhu Weihui
Proofreading: Zhang Yan In order to prevent similar problems, in October 2021, the Ministry of Education, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the People's Bank of China and other six departments jointly issued the "Notice on Strengthening the Supervision of Pre-charges for Off-campus Training Institutions", requiring bank custody on the pre-charges for training institutions in various places, and establish a pre-charge risk deposit for .
A pre-charges for Lerong Children's Home Yizhuang Campus after October 2021 are included in the regulatory channels for bank custody? It is not known yet.
Brand owner: The headquarters is preparing to take over the campus involved, and is still dealing with
As an investor and franchisee, Feng Jiatong is no longer able to operate the campus of Lerong Children's Home Yizhuang due to financial difficulties. So how do Beijing Lerong Education Consulting Co., Ltd., as a brand owner, deal with this?
June 2, Lerong Children's Home Headquarters made relevant information.
, founded in 2015, Beijing Lerong Education Consulting Co., Ltd. is owned by Chongqing Xuehui Enterprise Management Consulting Co., Ltd. 100% stake in . "Lerong Children's Home" is its brand and provides early education and other services for infants and young children aged 0-6. According to its website, Lerong Children's Home currently has nearly 50 centers across the country, covering more than 20 key cities across the country.
After the Yizhuang Campus of "Lerong Children's Home" stopped operating, on June 4, Beijing Lerong Education Consulting Co., Ltd. issued a "Statement on Lerong Children's Home (Yizhuang Campus)" to parents. The "Statement" states that the Yizhuang Campus of Lerong Children's Home is an "independently operated campus" organized by Beijing Tongyou Education Consulting Co., Ltd. The headquarters of Lerong Children's Home is currently communicating and negotiating with the investors of Yizhuang Campus.
"I think their legal relationship (Lerong Children's Home Headquarters and Yizhuang Campus) is a franchise relationship." As a parent, lawyer Xie Yanping believes that according to the "Regulations on Commercial Franchise Management", brand holding companies should register with the commercial authorities and fulfill corresponding obligations, such as guidance and supervision of franchise operations.
Xie Yanping believes that Lerong Headquarters should bear corresponding responsibilities for the suspension and subsequent disposal of the Yizhuang campus of Lerong Children's Home.
htmlOn June 4, Beijing Lerong Education Consulting Co., Ltd. also issued the "Instructions on Recent Progress of the Lerong Yizhuang Campus and Preliminary Opinions on Later Solutions" to parents, stating that the company's headquarters has established an emergency working group to handle the Yizhuang Campus incident; through docking with the investors of Yizhuang Campus, a solution has been proposed - the headquarters will provide parents with the remaining class hours of continuous course services at the original venue, and some issues need to be further discussed.The remaining amount of tuition fees (not attended) counted by the school.
htmlOn June 6, according to the parents interviewed, Lerong Children's Home Headquarters informed the parents of the "work progress": relevant agreements have been drafted and the original investors of Yizhuang Campus have been feedback; the site sublease, the inauguration survey of employees in the original campus and the supplementary recruitment of other work are also underway. htmlOn the afternoon of June 9, a reporter from The Paper called Lerong Children's Home to inquire about this matter. The staff later called back and said that the "Yizhuang Campus Handling Team" was handling matters related to the Yizhuang Campus.Editor in charge: Cui Xuan Photo editor: Zhu Weihui
Proofreading: Zhang Yan
