500 hit as tutor hub shuts

All five branches of tutorial school Brilliant Education have shut down, leaving more than 500 victims demanding refunds of about HK$1 million in tutorial fees.

The school put up a notice outside its branches on Saturday saying its "historical mission has been fulfilled," without giving the reason for the closure.

The school apologized to parents and asked them to send their mailing addresses by 5 pm this Saturday to get back study materials, trophies, medals or certificates.

Its branches - in Kornhill Plaza in Quarry Bay, Chai Wan, Shau Kei Wan, Siu Sai Wan and Ho Man Tin - offer programs for kindergartners to senior secondary students.

Customs officials put up a notice outside the Siu Sai Wan branch yesterday, saying it had launched an investigation into the closure, and had formed a task group to provide help.

In a notice to parents, Eye Level, which offers mathematics and English courses at Brilliant Education, announced it has ceased cooperation with the company and will provide free lessons to parents involved.

However, a director of Brilliant Education, Margaret Pang Tse-tung, said it is negotiating to reopen some centers as a parent could take over the business.

She also said a lot of "negative information" had affected tutors' work.

But a former tutor said the school's management was chaotic and employees could not get their pay on time. He had had his pay delayed since May.

"Since we don't have full-time teachers, the center had kept hiring untrained part-timers," he said.

The school's Kornhill Plaza branch was closed yesterday.

"It is so weird that no one has been in the branch, and we later realized that the teacher who received our payment already left the company," a mother, Yip, said.

Some parents said they had been persuaded to prepay fees weeks before the closure.

One mother, Chan, told The Standard the school asked her to prepay HK$10,000 for upcoming classes so that they could arrange make-up lessons for her child, and the classes were scheduled to begin on Saturday.

Legislative Council member Tang Fei, vice-chairman of the Federation of Education Workers, was surprised by the closure.

"There should be more students who need extra help on their studies after the pandemic, especially those from the mainland, as they need to improve their English," Tang said.

Terence Chong Tai-leung, associate professor of economics at Chinese University, said poor management could be one of the main reasons for the closure.

Police said they had received two reports from parents that they could not get back the prepaid school fees, while the Consumer Council said it had received a complaint.

The Education Bureau said it had received inquiries and requests for assistance and would follow up if the school was found violating the Education Ordinance.

But it said the school's Ho Man Tin branch was not registered and no notice was received about the closure.

The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority said it paid great attention to the company owing employees' MPF payments.

The authority said it had recovered part of the MPF payment, and would file a civil claim on the remaining payments.

But a Legco member for the wholesale and retail sector, Peter Shiu Ka-fai, said the closure was not an individual case, and cited dining group Castelo Concepts closing nine of its restaurants last week after creditors pressed its investors into liquidation.

He said many people going back to the mainland after the borders reopened had led to a drop in all business.