The Apax Leaders English-language center system’s unpaid tuition refunds to parents in Ho Chi Minh City total some VND93.8 billion (US$3.8 million), according to the municipal Department of Education and Training.

The department on Tuesday reported the status of Apax Leaders centers in the city to the municipal administration.

In particular, the department received a report by the chain on February 26.

The chain proposed extending the closure of two centers until June this year, offering online classes to students of these two centers, shutting down 26 venues, and relocating 13 others.

Apax Leaders centers citywide have a total of 11,295 students, including 839 attending in-person classes, over 6,000 deferring their courses, and nearly 4,400 others withdrawing their prepaid tuition fees.

The chain was informed that it had to refund VND108.1 billion ($4.4 million) in prepaid tuition fees to parents and has completed refunding VND14.3 billion ($582,216).

It proposed refunding VND4 million ($163) per quarter to each parent from January to December 2025 and continuing the refund the next year.

Apax Leaders owes teachers and employees VND11.5 billion ($468,788) and VND9 billion ($367,279) for space rental as of February 2023.

However, the chain has yet to report its solutions and deadlines to address its violations and demonstrate its responsibility to learners and related individuals and organizations, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training.

It also owes VND31 billion ($1.3 million) in health and social insurance premiums for Vietnamese laborers and VND1.3 billion ($53,051) for foreigners, the municipal social insurance agency reported.

During a meeting with the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training on Wednesday last week, Doan Thi Thanh Thuy, CEO of Apax English Corporation, the operator of Apax Leaders centers, said the company was facing many difficulties in finances.

Its budget can cover online classes only, Thuy admitted.

The company needs more time to work with investors to build a plan to reopen centers in Ho Chi Minh City, refund the tuition fees to parents, and pay salaries to employees and social insurance premiums.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training said it would coordinate with the Department of Planning and Investment, the municipal Tax Department, the social insurance agency, and other relevant agencies to review Apax Leaders’ legal documents and assess its continued operations.

The department will call on other English language centers in the city to admit students of Apax Leaders if these centers fail to maintain their operations. 

Many parents had accused Apax Leaders of collecting tuition fees for long-term courses but failing to arrange classes, while its former employees denounced the chain for failing to pay their salaries.

The chain later repeatedly made commitments to refund prepaid tuition fees in installments.

However, many parents affirmed that they had yet to receive their refunds. As such, hundreds of parents gathered at Apax Leaders centers in Ho Chi Minh City to demand payment.

They said that they had completely lost trust in promises made by Apax Leaders and requested that designated agencies investigate the case.

Most recently, the chain announced a temporary suspension of in-person teaching activities at its centers in Ho Chi Minh City and its failure to reimburse the tuition fees, citing financial challenges and its inability to deal with disgruntled parents.

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