New Delhi, Jan 23 The sudden closure of several branches of coaching institute FIITJEE in Delhi NCR and north India in the past few days has left hundreds of parents fuming who have filed police complaints to demand refund of fees, said a Noida police official on Thursday.
The crisis in the top chain of coaching centre comes amid speculation over the institute’s financial crisis and troubles due to fresh administrative and civic action against its branches for violating licensing and fire safety rules.
In cities like Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut and Bhopal, parents have filed multiple police complaints while the coaching institute’s reputed South Delhi branch at Kalu Sarai near IIT-Delhi has been forced to suspend some classes due exodus of teachers who were allegedly not paid wages for several months.
On Thursday, a police complaint was also filed in Noida Sector-58 after the closure of the FIITJEE centre in Sector 26, without fee refund.
A parent who had recently deposited Rs 4 lakh fee, said, “An outgoing FIITJEE teacher told us that most faculty members are leaving as they have not been paid salaries for several months.”
Ghaziabad’s district inspector of Schools Dharmendra Sharma had recently highlighted the fresh drive launched under UP Coaching Regulation Act, 2002, against unregistered institutes.
While social media was flooded with videos of parents protesting outside the institute’s now-shut branches and police stations, many videos issued by the company’s top management and unpaid faculty members have also emerged.
The brewing crisis seems to have precipitated just after the end of the academic session for students appearing on January 22, 23 and 24 Session-1 of JEE Mains – the entrance exam for engineering colleges and preliminary test for IIT admission.
FIITJEE reportedly has 72 centres across 41 cities and over 300 employees.
Some parents said they were taken aback by text messages sent to them by FIITJEE centre heads, starting Monday, about the closure of their wards’ centre.
A parent from south Delhi said some teachers had forewarned them about a possible shake-up due to the management’s alleged financial lapses and disputes with franchisee centre heads.
“The teachers, most of whom are IITians themselves, had been forced to look for other job options and they decided to move out after the end of the current academic calendar for IIT aspirants,” said a parent outside the Kalu Sarai outlet in Delhi where he had rushed to inquire about the crisis and its impact on disruption of classes.
Started in 1992 by D.K. Goel, a mechanical engineering graduate from IIT Delhi, the chain of coaching institutes, specialising in engineering entrance exam training, also offers NEET entrance coaching and has centres even in other countries.
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