Parents stress over fees as tutor chain shuts all branches

Ayra Wang

All five branches of English tutoring chain Little Frog Learning Centre have suspended operations, with notices outside their doors citing internal problems.

Its Yuen Long branch said it will temporarily close for two weeks.

In the Tseung Kwan O branch, a notice of lease termination was posted on its door.

A concerned mother, Ivy, came to the branch yesterday morning only to find it shut.

"On April 13, the center first told us it might close and said they will arrange make-up classes toward the end of the month," she said. "They informed us again last week that they would refund the unfinished classes in April but I have lost contact with them since last Friday."

Worried parents formed a WhatsApp group, with at least 900 joining as of yesterday. Some said they received a text message from the center that it will start refunding fees today and try to arrange make-up classes before the summer holiday.

Yuen Long district councillor Calvin Szeto Chun-hin said some parents told him the center should have reopened after Labor Day but had lost contact with the person in charge and found the branches shuttered.

Szeto said parents paid as much as HK$8,000 on average, and had enrolled their children in multiple courses, most paying HK$1,500 to HK$5,000 on average. Some parents enrolled multiple children. Some teachers said the center had failed to pay them for the past two months and that they even have personal belongings inside the branches.

The Labour Department said it has received a wage arrears complaint and started a criminal investigation.

The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority said the center failed to make contributions for six employees in March, totaling HK$13,000, and that it will take action.

The Education Bureau said the center has seven branches according to its record and is following up on the issue. The center's Facebook account says there are only five.

ayra.wang@singtaonewscorp.com