Beijing Third Intermediate People’s Court court ruled against a private school in a suit filed by parents on Tuesday, August 23.
The parents of three middle school students and a 9 year-old had signed a contract with Beijing Shuren-Ribet Private School to study in the US. The school had promised to arrange the students’ accomodation and transportation during the US stay, but had failed to deliver.
The contract states each student would receive three meals a day for a total value of USD 9 as well as “comfortable” living conditions. The parents had paid between RMB 100,000 and RMB 330,000 ($15,000 and $49,000) per child for the promised service.
However, when parents visited their children in the US, they found over twelve kids crammed into one bedroom and hardly any food to eat. One parent stated that “even an egg per day cannot be promised,” which isn’t surprising given that the school was only spending a third of what they had promised, about USD 3.31 to feed each child (per day).
The parents immediately took their children out of the school, returned to China, and filed a lawsuit. The court ruled in favor of parents, granting a partial reimbursement, but was not able to act further due to lacking regulations.
The court warns parents who wish to hire contractors to send their children abroad to be vigilant as the industry is unregulated at present.
Photo: Flickr (Jonathan Chen)