In today’s China, it has become the norm for owners of early education institutions to run off with the money. Recently, Sunlight Rain and Dew Kindergarten in Xinyang, Henan, known for its “high-quality education” and charging over ten thousand yuan in annual tuition fees, suddenly had its principal flee, affecting four campuses. Hundreds of families were deceived with their tuition fees, and even teachers’ salaries were left unpaid, leading to a difficult struggle for justice.
According to official Chinese state media reports, Li Zhenfeng, the principal of Sunlight Rain and Dew Kindergarten, had been working in the field of early childhood education for over twenty years and was a successful figure trusted by parents. Many parents, attracted by its brand and reputation, wanted their children to receive quality preschool education, so they paid the fees early. The sudden news of the boss fleeing with the money left everyone feeling extremely disappointed and angry. Moreover, the kindergarten owed salaries to the teachers as well.
After the incident, parents quickly formed a rights protection group to exchange information, discuss strategies, and hoped that relevant authorities would step in to resolve the situation.
One affected parent, Liu Xiaoli (pseudonym), told Epoch Times, “Sunlight Rain and Dew Kindergarten was very well-known locally and had been operating for a long time with a good reputation. In August 2023, my child was attending classes at EduYa Early Education, and they had a ‘City Star’ event where we could prepay tuition fees to earn points that can be used in any of their facilities, including Sunlight Rain and Dew Kindergarten.”
“I prepaid 71,000 yuan, and initially, the tuition fees were being deducted properly. Just last week, a teacher during a home visit mentioned that our kindergarten was going to merge with another one, which was further away, so we disagreed. When I asked in the parent group, nobody knew about it, and many parents had already prepaid for the next semester.”
“Under further questioning, the teacher mentioned that they hadn’t received their wages for a long time. Sensing something amiss, we decided to visit the kindergarten the next day and found out that the boss had fled, taking all the money from the accounts.”
“My child, who is now 5 years old, started early education at age 3 and began attending the kindergarten’s preschool class at age 4. This fall, he was supposed to move up to the kindergarten class, and we’ve already used over 20,000 of the prepaid fees, with over 40,000 yuan remaining, and there are more than twenty children in our class,” Liu Xiaoli said.
“We learned about the boss fleeing last Friday, on July 25th. Calls went unanswered, and the principal refused to meet. We even reported it to the police, but they couldn’t reach him either.”
When asked why she saved so much money, Liu Xiaoli explained, “They had rankings, and everyone wanted their child to earn points to be ranked first. Plus, the teachers brainwashed us to save more, with no upper limit. I know a parent who saved 100,000 yuan because the more points you accumulate, the higher the ranking, and the first prize was very attractive with 4,999 yuan in cash, an Apple phone, as well as nearly a hundred various home appliances, toys, and equipment.”
“If you introduce a new person, you get a discount on the prepaid fees and a certain percentage of commission,” she added.
“Some parents in the group know the principal, Li Zhenfeng’s sister, who mentioned that her children were studying abroad. If they can’t find him in Xinyang, it’s likely that Li Zhenfeng has left,” she claimed.
On July 28, many teachers and parents went to the government to seek justice but were eventually sent back. They are awaiting responses from relevant authorities. In the afternoon at the Petition Hall of Pingqiao District, representatives from the district government informed parents and teachers of the results.
Reports state that local government public security, education, and other departments have intervened in the matter to assist parents in resolving issues, strengthen supervision over kindergartens to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
Some netizens expressed their concerns, saying, “A well-known educational group in Xinyang disappeared overnight, leaving no school, unpaid teacher salaries, and the prepaid tuition fees of hundreds of children gone. Where is the creditability in education? When education turns into a capital game, where is the bottom line? Education is not a business, and children are not bargaining chips.”
Cases of kindergarten owners running off with the money are not uncommon in mainland China. On July 25th, the owner of the “Love Baby International” Kindergarten in Wuhan disappeared, leaving behind tens of thousands of yuan in tuition fees paid by hard-working parents, with no indication of when they’ll be refunded.
According to Chinese official media, on February 18, parents of Tianqiao District’s Lexion Huangtun Kindergarten in Jinan found out that the owner had fled right after receiving the tuition fees. On the first day of school in September 2023, parents discovered the kindergarten’s gates locked, with computers and kitchen equipment missing. Just four months earlier, the kindergarten had collected fees for the new semester only for the owner to “run off” overnight.
A educational group in Guiyang closed eight kindergartens due to debts of 20 million yuan, while a private kindergarten in Guangzhou exited the market due to “insufficient enrollment.” When education becomes a game of capital, a child’s childhood becomes the cheapest commodity.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Education of the CPC in June this year, the number of kindergartens across the country has been plummeting rapidly from 2022 to 2024, with 5,610 closures in 2022, followed by 14,808 in 2023, and over 21,100 closed in 2024. A consecutive three-year decrease of 41,500 kindergartens with an overall reduction rate of 14.08%. It is estimated that another 26,000 may close in 2025, at this rate, by 2030, China’s kindergartens may drop to 163,700.