A court in Beijing on Tuesday ordered a private school in the city to partially reimburse the tuition fees of four students studying in the United States, who were said to be living in very poor conditions.

Beijing Shuren-Ribet Private School had signed a contract with parents of three middle school students and a 9-year-old pupil to arrange the students' accommodation and transportation in the US, the Beijing News reported.

The school had promised the parents that their children would be afforded comfortable living conditions and three meals a day worth $9, for which the parents of each child paid between 100,000 yuan and 330,000 yuan ($15,000 and $49,500).

However, when some of the parents later visited their children in the US, they found more than a dozen students lived in one room and did not have enough food to eat.

"Sometimes, even one egg a day cannot be promised," a parent was quoted as saying.

The school reportedly spent only $3.30 per day on meals for each child, almost one-third of the promised amount.

Parents brought a lawsuit against the school, seeking compensation, and brought their children back to China.

More families are sending their children to study abroad, but parents should be careful when making such decisions, said Huang Haitao, a judge at the Beijing Third Intermediate People's Court.

Education authorities should also consider adopting new rules to regulate the industry, Huang added.