Apax Leaders asks for debt deferment for another 1.5 years

After nearly a month of delay in paying parents in the South, Apax Leaders proposed a debt repayment schedule until the end of 2025, 1.5 years longer than the previous commitment.

On November 4, Apax Leaders sent a notice of apology to parents who have not yet received their tuition refunds. Apax explained that the previous debt repayment commitment was made hastily, without fully anticipating the difficulties.

The new repayment schedule proposed by Apax is to pay 5% of the debt each time on December 31 and April 28, 2024. From July 2024, Apax Leaders will pay 5% of the remaining amount each month until the debt is paid off. The money will be transferred no later than the 30th of each month. For parents who want their children to continue studying, this unit will urgently reopen the centers to serve.

According to this roadmap, parents will receive 100% of their tuition debt from Apax Leaders by the end of December 2025 instead of April 2024 as originally promised.

Parents wait at Apax center, Phu Nhuan district, to demand money on October 12. Photo: Nguyen Le — Parents wait at Apax center, Phu Nhuan district, to demand money on October 12. Photo: *Nguyen Le*

Ms. Huong, District 7, said she did not accept this plan of Apax Leaders. Parents only agreed to the roadmap that was agreed upon in the meeting last April.

"Parents no longer have confidence in Apax Leaders, there is no basis to be sure that they will fulfill their promises," said Ms. Huong.

Similarly, Mr. Phuoc, District 3, said he will continue to petition the Department of Education and Training and other authorities because Apax Leaders has not fulfilled its commitment.

In 2020 and 2021, many parents paid for their children to study English at the Apax Leaders system, but the payment was unfinished because the centers were closed. After many negotiations, Apax divided them into two groups with different repayment schedules. To date, many parents in group 1 have received their full money back, through three installments, lasting from June to August.

Group 2 was promised to pay back tuition in 5 installments, 20% each. According to the commitment minutes at the Apax Southern Parents' Meeting on April 9, the first payment for group 2 is on October 9. The remaining installments are on November 20, December 2023, and March and April 2024.

However, by October 12, the second group of parents still had not received the money. Hundreds of people went to the Apax center in Phu Nhuan district to demand it.

At that time, Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, who represented Apax in the dialogues with parents in his role as CEO, said that more than 80% of parents in group 1 had been refunded. The amount to be paid to parents in group 2 was double that of group 1, about 50 billion VND.

Apax Leaders is a chain of English centers for children, licensed since 2016. On the website, the chain says it has 120 centers nationwide, with about 120,000 students. In Ho Chi Minh City, according to Mr. Tuan, Apax Leaders has more than 15,000 students.

At the end of 2022, Apax Leaders was complained by many parents in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Dak Lak, and Da Nang because the teaching quality was not as committed, "taking the money and abandoning the customers" and demanding a refund of tuition fees.

In early March, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training said it had transferred documents related to Apax Leaders' activities to the Ho Chi Minh City Police at the request of this unit.

To date, Apax Leaders has reopened two out of 41 centers in Ho Chi Minh City, including Him Lam (District 6) and Phan Xich Long (Phu Nhuan District).

Le Nguyen

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