File photo of young Chinese overseas student in the U.S.(not related to the story)

After paying between 100,000 and 330,000 yuan per year to send their children to study in the U.S., several Chinese parents discovered that their children had been abused while abroad. It was discovered that more than 10 children were assigned to live in one house, and that there wasn't enough food to go around. Now, four angry parents have filed a lawsuit against the Beijing Shuren-Ribet Private School, which organized the overseas study program.

One of the young student surnamed Yuan is only 9 years old. Yuan's parents paid at least 100,000 yuan so that their child could attend a private school abroad. Like the other parents, Yuan's parents assumed their child was enjoying life overseas. However, when the parents went to the U.S. to visit their children, they found that the "study base" was nothing more than an ordinary residential house, and that 11 children in total were living there together.

What's more, the school applied meal rations to the students, limiting, for instance, the amount of milk they could drink in a day. The food didn't even meet basic nutritional requirements. Seeing the real situation, the parents took their children back to China ahead of the schedule. A reporter from Beijing News learned that, according to the program's contract, meal standards were purported to be $9 per day; however, the school’s standard was actually $3.3 per day. 

The four plaintiffs reqested to discharge their contracts with the school, and the school was required to return relevant expenses. During the trial, the four children testified that the food "tasted bad" and "was not enough." 

On Aug. 23, Beijing Third Intermediate Court announced its final judgment of the case: Beijing Shuren-Ribet Private School was ordered to return part of the students' tuition.