After-school classes terminated for high fees

Four senior middle schools in a county of Shandong province that cooperated with after-school training institutions to offer classes on-campus were asked to end the classes immediately for charging high fees, according to a notice published on the website of the State Council on Wednesday.

Residents in Ningyang county of Tai'an city reported the classes, which taught the Japanese language, at the online supervision platform of the State Council, saying the classes charge high fees which have increased families' financial burdens.

After initial verification, the supervision office of the State Council delivered the case to the provincial government of Shandong.

The Japanese classes in the four schools charged each student fees from 12,000 yuan ($1749.6) to 16,800 yuan, per the working group consisting of staff from the Shandong Provincial Department of Education and Tai'an government.

The four schools have violated the fee administration regulations of senior middle schools, and provided places for the institutions without approval from the education administration authorities, the working group said.

The schools were asked to ensure the institutions refund the remaining fee total of 1.269 million yuan and handle the Japanese study of the students concerned properly.