The Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency has just prosecuted and temporarily detained Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thuy for fraud and property appropriation. Mr. Thuy is the Chairman of Egroup Education Company and General Director of Apax English Joint Stock Company (owner of the Apax Leaders English Center chain).
Over the past time, Apax Leaders English Center has been exposed everywhere when thousands of parents came to the centers to demand tuition fees.
Shark Thuy was arrested for fraud and property appropriation.
Mr. Nguyen Van Thinh (living in Di An City, Binh Duong Province) said that because his child loves learning English and shows talent in foreign languages, he and his wife are trying their best to take care of him. He and his wife packed up and worked hard to borrow money from the bank to pay 165 million VND for their child to study at Apax Leaders Center in Thu Duc City (HCMC).
“My husband and I paid for several years to enjoy preferential tuition fees. However, my child had only studied for a year when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the center closed. We went to the center many times to ask for a refund of the tuition fees but were unsuccessful. Now that Mr. Thuy has been arrested, we don’t know who will return the money to us,” said Mr. Thinh.
According to Mr. Thinh, since his child's education was interrupted and tuition fees were not refunded, his family has also encountered many difficulties. Every month, the couple still has to pay bank interest, eat sparingly, and spend frugally to take care of their child's studies at another center.
Mr. Thinh shared that he hopes the incident that happened at Apax Leaders English Center will be clarified soon, and that individuals who caused damage to parents and students will be held responsible before the law.
"Authorities need to handle this matter seriously and show a strong deterrent effect so that parents and students have faith in the law and the country's education system," said Mr. Thinh.
Many parents in Ho Chi Minh City have not yet received a refund of the tuition fees they paid for their children. (Illustration photo: BL)
Like Mr. Thinh's family, Ms. Do Thi Thu Hang (living in District 7) said that in 2020, she paid 185 million VND for her child's tuition at Apax Leaders Center. However, her child only studied for a short time before the center closed.
“The center announced that it would refund our family more than 120 million VND. However, I waited forever and still did not see the center pay. When Shark Thuy was arrested, I just hoped that the person responsible would refund the money to our parents,” said Ms. Hang.
According to VTC News, many parents in Ho Chi Minh City have the same question: “Who will pay them?” after Shark Thuy was arrested. Hundreds of parents are still hoping to get their tuition refunded.
Mr. Tran Van Nghiem, representative of a group of parents whose children study at Apax Leaders, said that his group has 380 members. However, as of March 26, only 25 people have been refunded 100% of the money, 10 people have been refunded 5% of the money they paid, and the rest have not been paid. Mr. Nghiem's family also had 38 million VND taken by Apax Leaders.
On March 26, Apax English Joint Stock Company announced that it would temporarily stop confirming tuition refunds and tuition debt for parents. This unit also temporarily stopped refunding tuition fees until there is a conclusion from the police investigation agency related to Shark Thuy.
Currently, Ms. Nguyen Thi Dung, member of the Board of Directors of Egame Company, member of the Board of Directors of Egroup (the owner of Apax Leaders English Center) is temporarily running the group.
On March 11, according to the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, Apax Leaders English Center has requested to dissolve 26 centers and temporarily close and relocate 13 centers. The total number of students at the centers is nearly 11,300, the number of students who have reserved their results is 6,072, the number of students who have withdrawn their fees is 4,384. The amount of tuition fees to be refunded is more than 108 billion VND, of which nearly 14.3 billion VND has been paid, and the debt is more than 93.8 billion VND.
In addition, this unit still owes teachers and staff salaries until February 2023 of more than 11.5 billion VND and rent of 9 billion VND.
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