‘Shutdown was abrupt… every parent concerned about future of children’: Several FIITJEE centres closed down

According to a staff member at the centre, it was shut down on Tuesday due to a severe staff crunch. “With only 10 teachers remaining out of a staff of 50, the centre was unable to operate… Several parents have filed a police complaint.”

Sandhya Singh, mother of a Class 11 student who studies at the centre, said, “We panicked when we heard about the closure of the Laxmi Nagar centre, it was only later we realised that this was the case with many other branches as well. The faculty has been reassuring us that the future of our children won’t be affected because they are working out an arrangement with the Aakash Institute.”

The Aakash Institute management is yet to confirm any formal or informal arrangement with FIITJEE.

Another parent, an advocate with a private firm, said, “The shutdown was abrupt.” He said that his son, who is in Class 11, is part of a regular batch at FIITJEE. “His entire career is at stake. I have paid around Rs 7 lakh for a two-year programme,” he said, adding that the parents have collectively filed a police complaint at Preet Vihar police station.

At Delhi and NCR centres, fee for a one-year classroom programme for students who have appeared for or completed Class 12 Board exams is Rs 90,000, excluding GST. The institute also offers several other programmes, with the most popular being a two-year classroom programme for JEE (Main) & JEE (Advanced).

The shutdown comes at a time when JEE (Main) examination has just begun. While the first session of the exam began on January 22 and will continue till January 30, the second session will be held between April 1 and 8.

The issue across all centres stemmed from unpaid salaries. Staff, including centre heads, teachers, and administrative personnel, had not received their salaries since October. Many teachers alleged they had been getting reduced salaries from last April. Non-payment of salary for two months was the final straw leading to mass-resignations which led to closure of the centres, they alleged.

The FIITJEE management could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

Head of one of the centres said, “Entire 2024 has been troublesome, especially in terms of salary. We were paid our regular salary only until March. For April and May, we received just 60% of our salary, and from June to September, only 70%. Whenever concerns were raised, we were told about fund crunch… We were blamed for the low revenue, which we knew was untrue since student enrolments hadn’t dropped.”

Parag Gupta, the parent of a Class 10 student enrolled in the Noida FIITJEE coaching centre, said, “We are associated with FIITJEE for two years. My daughter joined the coaching centre in Class 9 and then got through a scholarship programme for Class 11… I have paid Rs 80,000 already. Keeping the monetary loss aside, every parent is concerned about the future of the children.”

A teacher who worked with FIITJEE for two decades said he quit at the beginning of this month. “It used to be a good paymaster. But things have been going downhill over the past year… Despite the inconsistency, teachers stayed because there were assurances from the management that salaries would be paid. Eventually, it became difficult to sustain families, and many of us quit,” said the teacher who was attached to one centre in Ghaziabad that is still running.

Noida’s lone FIITJee centre shuts down as faculty resigns en masse

Days after an assurance of “smooth operations” in Noida and Greater Noida, FIITJEE’s only coaching centre in Noida’s Sector 62 closed down this week following faculty’s mass resignation.

An official communication sent to parents on Saturday read: “…We understand that there may be some rumours circulating regarding FIITJEE’s operations. We want to assure you that FIITJEE Noida centres are running smoothly, and there is no disruption in our academic schedule. There is no need for concern or panic — these rumours are completely baseless. We request you to trust only official communication and avoid misinformation…”

However, days later, faculty at the lone Noida centre resigned en masse and claimed to have shifted to its competitor Aakash’s newly launched IITJEE Advanced wing ‘INVICTUS – Advanced Engineering Program’ at Noida.

The latest communication on Tuesday read: “Most of you must be aware that FIITJEE has been struggling in paying salaries to its staff for almost one year across the country…We did our best in discharging our duties without any interruption despite such a serious problem. Even now company is not giving funds for routine expenses. For all of us, managing our family expenses was getting difficult.” The faculty claimed that had not received their salary and other dues for three months.

Tanush Agrawal, a Class 11 student who was enrolled at the institute, pointed out that teachers had been quitting since October. “They informed us informally that their salary is not been paid. On Monday, we were shocked to see that there were no classes. We were only assured last week that the classes wouldn’t be affected. Even for basic services and facilities like water, and paying external examination invigilators, the teachers were paying out of their pockets… ” said Agrawal.