Revealing the ＂routines＂ of some early education institutions： business depends on joining, and class depends on fooling.
Xinhua News Agency, Shenzhen, January 28th Question: Business depends on joining, customers depend on buying and selling, and classes depend on fooling — — Demystifying the "routines" of some early education institutions
Xinhua News Agency reporter Bai Yu
Without any training or qualification, you can join as long as you invest tens of thousands of yuan; By "purchasing" students through the enrollment agent, the advertising content is out of touch with the actual course; When enrolling students, they promised at will, and the contract was ambiguous. After paying the fees, they immediately "changed their faces".
Due to the strong demand, the early education institutions for 0-6 years old are experiencing explosive growth, among which there are many chaos. Some early education institutions rely on joining in business, buying and selling customers, and fooling in class. Parents often find themselves being "routine" after paying.
There are many traps in marketing "words" and enrollment "routines"
Recently, Ms. Kuang from Shenzhen was shopping with her 4-year-old daughter Lele (a pseudonym) when she was stopped by a "talent scout" holding a microphone and invited her children to participate in the free audition. Then they came to the "Shenzhen Times Huayu Culture Media Company Nanshan Branch" located in the sea world. After Lele was interviewed, a director praised Lele’s sense of lens, and said that there was only one place left for the two-day sea election to select 10 children, and he signed up for a two-year course of 23,800 yuan to train children in dance, piano and physique. He also promised that students can participate in film and television performances in the programs of two TV stations.
Ms. Kuang was moved and paid a deposit of several thousand yuan. Since then, the staff has been calling for reminders. Ms. Kuang recalled that the staff called it a "free audition" at that time, and found that the company had been complained by many parents. The previous parents said that there was no activity after studying for one year. So Ms. Kuang proposed to refund the deposit, but the staff refused on the grounds that the registration list had been handed in.
The reporter tweeted to contact the person in charge of the marketing department of Shenzhen Times Huayu Culture Media Company. The person in charge explained: "Parents have a misunderstanding about the film and television performance in the contract. The company organizes 1-3 activities every year, but whether it can be selected by TV stations depends on whether the children meet the requirements." At present, Shenzhen Consumers Association and Industrial and Commercial Bureau have been involved in investigating this matter.
Similar to this kind of free sea election training, it is not a case that empty promises refuse to be fulfilled. It is understood that the "words" and "routines" used in enrollment have become important contents for franchisees to train and teach franchisees.
On the grounds of wanting to invest in early education institutions, the reporter dialed the advertising telephone number of an early education institution called "Brain Potential Stimulation Class for 0-6 Years Old", which claims to have more than 130 branches in China. Manager Xie, the business manager, helped the reporter to analyze the 10 advantages of engaging in the early education industry, including no credit, no inventory, no after-sales, low cost, high profit, etc., and "no teacher qualification", and promised to help the reporter realize his dream of creating wealth in a short time with an initial fee of 50,000 yuan, and promised to provide "recruitment tips".
Open the part about "secrets of enrollment" in the Business Cooperation Manual, and recommend using the methods of consultation and coping with parents, and write impressively "Never tell parents ‘ No ’ " "The speed at which parents pay money is equal to the speed at which they are moved" and "Recommend packages at different prices according to parents’ class".
Shengyuan is freely promised by the buying and selling agent for signing multiple bills.
When you enroll your child in an early education institution, you may not know that the class has not started yet, and some tuition fees have been paid to the enrollment agent. According to insiders, it is an open secret of the early education industry to expand customers with the help of enrollment agents.
After referral, the reporter contacted an early education agent in Shanghai as a franchisee of early education institutions. The other party promised that "only 10,000 yuan will help you sell 400 course experience packages in two days, and ensure the conversion rate of more than 5%. If you fail to reach this amount, 10,000 yuan will be refunded." In other words, spending 10,000 yuan can attract at least 20 students. According to the annual tuition fee of at least 4,000 yuan per student, early education institutions can generate at least 80,000 yuan in return in two days. Therefore, the enrollment agent’s business is very hot, and the schedule has been scheduled for three months.
There are also franchise centers that help franchisees recruit students by collecting commissions. Manager Xie suggested that the "Brain Potential Stimulation Class for 0-6 Years Old" could help franchisees to expand customers and charge a commission of 10% of the tuition fee. Take a city in Shandong Province as an example, there are about 60,000 children aged 0-6 years old, among whom 12,000 parents have learned about the whole brain course, and 2,400 parents have participated in the experience, and 240 parents have signed up on the spot. Based on the tuition fee of 4,000 yuan per person, the total tuition fee is 960,000 yuan.
According to informed sources, because the enrollment agent or the marketing staff of early education institutions are not responsible for teaching, the only motivation is to sign more bills. Therefore, during the enrollment period, teachers’ qualifications will be fabricated, successful cases will be written, the teaching effect will be exaggerated, and many empty promises will be made to parents, which often leads to disputes.
"Empty Shell" Experts of Early Education in "Routine" Call for Strengthening Supervision
According to the data of "Research Report on the Operation Situation and Investment Strategy of Early Education Market in China from 2016 to 2022" published by China Industrial Information Network, the infant education market in China is in a period of rapid development, and the scale of early education market in 2017 is about 200 billion yuan.
It is understandable that early education institutions develop into chain and scale, but the industrialization development has not brought about the synchronous improvement of teaching quality. In addition to formal education brands, in recent years, some early education institutions that do not have educational qualifications have also emerged, wearing the cloak of early childhood education and engaging in the business of collecting money. There is a cost to expand customers, and marketing has to be paid, while the content of education is gradually empty. Educational ideas are patchwork, even completely contrary to the law of children’s growth, attracting investors under the guise of low or even zero franchise fees, and the quality of education is out of the question.
Sun Yunxiao, a researcher at China Youth Research Center and the chief expert of family education, pointed out that the Ministry of Education issued the Guide to Learning and Development for Children Aged 3-6, emphasizing that education should follow the law of children’s physical and mental development. He called for strengthening the supervision of the teaching content of early education institutions, so that early childhood education can return to educational values and ideals, and disorderly industrialization and "educational anxiety" from adults can let our children go.
Lu Qin, chief education expert of China Children’s Press and Publication Corporation, pointed out: "Parents should not panic in a large number of choices. The education department should correct the disorderly development of early childhood education, keep up with the pace of the times, and make the education we choose more in line with children’s nature."