THE Shenzhen Municipal People’s Procuratorate recently reminded parents of scams on school placements as applications to schools open, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.

The city’s procuratorate has brought charges against 41 suspects in 40 cases since last year where the suspects deceived parents by claiming that they could help get a school placement to gain illegal profits.

A sports teacher surnamed Huang told several parents that he could help their children get admitted to their ideal schools through a special enrollment procedure.

In order to convince the parents, Huang also lied that his father-in-law was a leader in the city’s education bureau and his wife was an accountant of a middle school in the city.

Huang was finally convicted of fraud and sentenced to three years in prison in July 2017.

Some suspects signed contracts with parents to ensure that they could get a school placement for their children and promised to return the money if they broke their promises.

Scams on parents not only cause economic losses to victims but also disturb the normal education order, the Daily report said. In some cases, it might even prevent some students from being able to attend schools.

(Wang Jingli)