A PARENT recently complained to Shenzhen Special Zone Daily that her kid’s kindergarten hasn’t returned the tuition fees prepaid for the first half of this year after the school suspended classes due to the epidemic.

The involved kindergarten, Zhonghai Yangguang Meigui Kindergarten (Meigui Kindergarten) is located inside the real estate compound The Rosary in Qianhai.

At present, the Nanshan District Education Bureau has looked into the case. However, no solutions have been presented.

The parent, surnamed Yang, told the Daily that she was told to pay the tuition fees totaling 24,050 yuan (US$3,711) for the first six months of this year at the end of 2019.

Because of the outbreak of the COVID-19, the school suspended classes until this June. Back then, the school agreed on a full refund of the prepaid fees. However, many parents later failed to receive a refund from the school.

Parents’ concerns further deepened when they found a notice put up on the kindergarten’s gate, suggesting that the school has defaulted on rents for over a year.

Meigui Kindergarten, a private school founded in 2012, is a Hong Kong-style international kindergarten managed by Hong Kong Bilok International Education Kindergarten (Bilok).

Xiao Shugui, the agent of Bilok, said that Wei Zhuangchun, the boss of the kindergarten, took parents’ prepaid tuitions that worth over 1 million yuan away, along with other fees for teaching books and catering suppliers.

Xiao said Bilok is suing Wei but Wei refused to communicate.

Wei is Meigui Kindergarten’s legal representative, according to public data. However, he denied the allegations made by Bilok when talking to the Daily. Wei said that he invested over 4 million yuan to purchase the kindergarten but never got involved in the management of the school. He said that he was cheated by two of the kindergarten’s supervisors. However, Wei rejected to offer details.

The district education bureau said that Meigui Kindergarten had a financial crisis due to the epidemic. The bureau issued a notice to require the school to tackle its management problems and to return fees according to related policies.  (Wang Jingli)