Recently, several parents of kindergarten students in Luoshan County, Xinyang, Henan Province, posted on social media platforms expressing their concerns as the Luoshan County 61 Kindergarten and Shuoguo Kindergarten suddenly closed down after the owner ran away with the children’s full year tuition fees.
According to Tianyancha, Shuoguo Kindergarten and 61 Kindergarten in Luoshan County share the same legal representative and were established in 2018 and 2020 respectively. In April this year, both kindergartens were flagged by the local tax bureau for abnormal tax situations.
One parent shared a post stating that Luoshan County’s 61 Kindergarten and Shuoguo Kindergarten closed down abruptly, and the owner ran away with the money after collecting a year’s tuition fees. Now, after attending less than half a semester, many families of the victims cannot find anyone accountable.
Parents lamented that the prepaid tuition fees have not been refunded, leaving their children’s education in limbo. In a video footage, numerous parents gathered at the government complaint office to address the related concerns.
Reported by Jimo News, on December 19, parents received a notification from the kindergarten stating that there would be a day off for a fire inspection. However, by noon on December 20, kindergarten teachers informed via phone call that the funding chain had been cut, and they could retrieve their children’s daily necessities.
On December 27, a parent mentioned that they have filed complaints with various authorities and are currently awaiting updates.
In response to the situation raised by kindergarten parents, Xiaoxiang Morning News contacted the Luoshan County Education and Sports Bureau. The staff mentioned that the public security department has intervened and the specific circumstances are under investigation.
With China’s economy declining, high parenting costs, and the younger generation’s negative attitudes towards marriage and childbearing, the mainland’s birth rate is decreasing, leading to a large-scale closure of kindergartens.
On October 24 this year, the Chinese Ministry of Education published the “2023 National Education Development Statistics Bulletin”, indicating that in 2023, there was a significant wave of kindergarten closures in China, with nearly 15,000 fewer kindergartens compared to 2022.
Moreover, not only did the number of kindergartens decrease, but the data in the bulletin also showed that in 2023, the number of primary schools nationwide decreased by 5,645 compared to the previous year, and the number of junior high schools decreased by 132.