Modern College in probe over legality of classes at Mong Kok school

The Education Bureau is investigating whether school operator Modern Education is running classes at an unregistered school, after one of its former tutors claimed it demanded that he pay HK$144,000 to terminate his contract soon after he challenged the institution about the school's registration.

The tutor, Evan Wong Ka-chun, said he had unintentionally discovered on the bureau's website that Modern Education's school on the seventh floor of Mong Kok's Golden Era Plaza was unregistered for classes.

But he said classes attended by up to 1,000 students had already been held at the school since it opened on September 16.

The bureau confirmed that the school was not registered, and that it would send officers there to see if anyone had violated the Education Ordinance.

Broadcaster i-Cable quoted a spokesman as saying that no "official classes" had taken place at the school. The spokesman declined to say if any "trial classes" had taken place there.

The spokesman said Wong had requested a termination of contract as he wanted to join a school run by All-Star Education.

A statement from Modern Education said Wong had 200 students during the summer but just 50 in September. It said Wong had decided to terminate his contract on the grounds that he did not have enough students.