A change in the law is being considered to make private schools pay a deposit to the Government in an attempt to clamp down on unscrupulous institutions. A government source said the Education Department would put forward preliminary proposals before the end of the year. 'The amount of deposit will vary according to the number of students admitted and the total tuition fees,' the source said. The deposits, a portion of tuition fees, would be used to compensate students if their private schools were found to have offered unregistered courses or if they went bankrupt. The proposal was prompted by a series of controversies in the private education sector in the past two months. Three founders of the Infonet Education Centre in Wan Chai and Yuen Long were arrested on July 26 for allegedly duping students into paying illegal fees, while another private school, the Tutelage Education Centre in Wellington Street, Central, continued to recruit students despite the Education Department's refusal to renew its registration. Last month, Xue Cui College in Mongkok and Yau Ma Tei stated in adverts that completing its higher diploma courses for Secondary Five students in business management, accounting and financial management was equal to a year's study at a university in the United States or Britain. But the Education Department said the three courses had not been approved by the department and the adverts were misleading. The source said there were loopholes in the legislation governing private schools. 'Under the existing law, anybody publishing false education adverts is only subject to a maximum fine of $100,000,' he said. 'In most cases, the owners of the private schools concerned were fined less than $10,000.' Anybody running unregistered courses is subject to a maximum fine of $50,000 and one year's jail.