At the end of 2022, while searching for online courses online, Ms. NTH (residing in Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City) was attracted by the attractive recruitment information of LeaderTalks Foreign Language Center and Study Abroad Consulting. Without hesitation, Ms. H. registered for an online course with a tuition fee of 39,950,000 VND/year.
Luring students... into a trap!
"I am preparing to settle in Canada, so learning English is my top priority. By hitting the psychology of wanting to master the 4 skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing), LeaderTalks center is committed to helping me become more confident in one year" - Ms. H. said.
Mr. TDV (living in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City) confided that due to the huge tuition fee, he had to take out a credit loan to pay for his tuition. Thinking "you get what you pay for", V. enthusiastically attended each class, diligently doing his homework until he realized that things were not as advertised by the center.
Not only students in Ho Chi Minh City were "trapped", Ms. NTNM (living in Hanoi ) also fell into a similar situation. "Most of the students in the class are people who are working and have families. Initially, the class had 16 students, but gradually they all "dropped out" because of discouragement!" - M. lamented.
Learning about this center, we learned that, in order to recruit more students, the center continuously opens free classes for trial learning (Speakout Challenge) for 5 days. Posing as an office worker who needs to improve communication skills, we called the center's phone number to ask for advice on suitable courses. The center repeatedly asked us to "enlighten ourselves" and arranged for us to attend the first trial class. A woman named Th. claiming to be a center employee convinced us: "The center will help you "break the ice" in communication in the first weeks, from there it will help you "summon" words and knowledge to become skills".
Starting the first class, I was surprised by the online classroom interface. There was only one teacher and slides in Vietnamese, no interaction from students while the screen had nearly 600 participants. When we reflected on why the class did not interact together and only had one teacher speaking from beginning to end, Th. explained that this was just a sharing session, the official class would be completely different…
Many students have commented on the training quality of LeaderTalks Foreign Language and Study Abroad Consulting Center. Photo: HUE XUAN
Sky-high tuition, mediocre quality
After completing 5 days of free study, students will be able to attend the official course with a requirement to pay at least 4 months of tuition. Each online class has 12-16 students, studying from 5:00 to 6:30 am on weekdays. However, when "ting, ting" entered the LeaderTalks account, the center's attitude towards students began to become cold. "After 8 weeks of studying, I realized that I was still "marking time" even though I did all my homework and did not miss any class. The teacher came in late, talked ramblingly, and did not focus on the lesson" - Ms. M. said.
Many times Ms. M. sent emails asking the center to change the program and teaching methods, she was immediately put on the "blacklist" and had her account deleted from study groups. According to previous students, the center's study materials were taken from online sources, not self-study textbooks as the center had claimed. In fact, many places had grammatical and spelling errors. "At first, I was caught up in the virtual achievements that the center offered. After studying for 3 weeks, I felt that the teaching program had problems. Even basic words were mispronounced by the teacher" - H. shared. When a student reacted to the teaching methods, the center would "handle" them, the strongest measure being to send an email to suspend them from studying. Although he was the class monitor, when he complained and spoke up for the common voice of the students, Mr. V. was also suspended from studying. Even during the online class on April 16, some students asked the center to explain the quality of training and the curriculum, saying that everything they learned was not worth the 40 million VND they invested. A strange man suddenly entered the online class and loudly threatened to beat them. This person used vulgar words, loudly saying: "Someone will come to your house to beat you" and the class was disconnected.
Speaking to reporters on the evening of May 31, Ms. Dao Thi Hang, Director of LeaderTalks Foreign Language and Study Abroad Consulting Center, said that she had received feedback from students. With professional feedback, the center has taken note and made changes for the better. Students who have acted in a disruptive manner have forced the center to temporarily suspend their studies. "The center uses the Speakout 8-level curriculum, which is designed with systematic, professional learning content. Currently, the center has more than 300 students studying every day," Ms. Hang said.
With 300 students per day as Ms. Hang said, how much tuition does this center collect?
Chaos of "underground" foreign language centers!
Speaking with a reporter from the Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Ho Tan Minh, Chief of Office of the Departmentof Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, confirmed that Leader-Takls Foreign Language and Study Abroad Consulting Center has not been licensed to operate in Ho Chi Minh City.
According to the reporter's investigation, recently, after a series of Apax Leaders English Centers suddenly closed, parents demanded tuition fees; the city's Department of Education and Training decided to suspend the operations of most of the facilities, it was also the time when many people claiming to be employees of foreign language centers in Ho Chi Minh City advertised and attracted students to their centers. Although the information about these centers is vague, many people easily become victims when they are eager to find a new place to study...
Many foreign language centers are currently using chaotic advertising and looking for groups with parents to advertise to find students. On May 29, a person claiming to be an employee of Visa Academy English School introduced the program of this unit. This person said that the center has English programs: communication, business, children, Cambridge test preparation and especially IELTS. This person also affirmed: "If your child has IELTS, he/she will be admitted to an integrated high school and currently only 9 key schools in Ho Chi Minh City are using it and the opportunity to be admitted directly to university is very high. If parents are interested, they will be given a free experience session with a foreign teacher" - this person advised.
Previously, also in a group with nearly 1,000 parents participating, a person named D., claimed to be an admissions consultant of the Visa English Academy Center. The center is running the Awesome Summer program with special summer promotions and inviting parents to bring their children to experience it. However, when we searched for the names of both centers on the educational services information page of the city's Department of Education and Training, there were no results. That means these units are operating "underground" and have not been licensed.
On April 15, we were invited to attend the opening of the Wise English Center at Lac Long Quan Street (District 11). This center advertises itself as a pioneer in innovating English learning methods, shortening learning time by 80%... In the role of someone looking for a place to study, on May 30, we texted the center's website and received an advertisement: Currently, the facility in Ho Chi Minh City is enrolling students and preparing to open classes. This center also advises that classes are opened regularly and students will come to take an entrance exam and then be placed in a class. If they agree, they will receive a free English course using the NLP method to shorten learning time. We did not respond, but on May 31, this center continued to send a message that there was a tuition discount program and a set of English books compiled by Wise itself...
Although the center opened and announced enrollment in mid-April, by the end of May, it still had not been licensed to operate. Mr. Ho Tan Minh also confirmed that Wise English Center had not been licensed. When contacting the representative of Wise English Center, this person argued that he had submitted documents and was waiting for… a license!
Learners must be alert.
Mr. Ho Tan Minh said that parents should be careful when choosing foreign language centers. According to Mr. Minh, all foreign language and IT centers in Ho Chi Minh City, if licensed to operate, will be updated by the Department of Education and Training on the website of the Department of Education and Training's Information and Education Program Center. "When parents need to look up information, addresses, and operating status of centers, they can visit the website of the Department of Education and Training's Education Service Information Center at: dichvugiaoduc.hcm.edu.vn to know clearly" - Mr. Minh affirmed. The spokesperson of the Department of Education and Training also said that the reflections of the press and parents are also information channels for localities to grasp the situation, update and correct the activities if there are violations of the centers located in the area.
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