(ECNS) -- A private high school in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province is under investigation for the sky-high fees it charged parents, local media reported.
A student's mother, with alias surname Wu, said she was charged 160,000 yuan ($23,900) by Wuxi Yunhe Experimental Middle School for a single year of study.
"My child's achievements were not so good, but I hope he could continue studying in a normal high school, and then take part in gaokao, the national university entrance exmas, instead of entering a vocational school," Wu said.
She also said she applied to enroll her child in a five-student class at Yunhe School, which charged 480,000 yuan for three years of study.
But the invoice Wu received stated that she "was willing to give financial assistance" to the school.
The mother's experience astonished many parents. A normal high school in Wuxi usually charges 850 yuan a year, while some international high schools cost 70,000 yuan a year, less than half the fees asked at Yunhe School.
According to tuition standards, Yunhe School can charge 6,500 yuan a semester for a student in its normal classes, and 7,000 yuan for an art student. But any type of sponsorship fee is not allowed.
Zhou Dan, an official with the Wuxi educational bureau, said they have started an investigation of the school. "Even though it is a non-government high school, its tuition must follow the country's regulations," it as stated.
