In a shocking turn of events, as many as eight FIITJEE coaching centres across various parts of the country have abruptly shut their doors, leaving thousands of students and their parents distressed ahead of crucial board and entrance examinations.
According to a Hindustan Times report, Forum For Indian Institute of Technology-Joint Entrance Examination (FIITJEE) centres in cities like Delhi, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Varanasi, Indore, Bhopal, Patna, Pune, and most recently Noida, have closed doors, plunging thousands of students into limbo.
Known for its expertise in preparing students for competitive exams, particularly the Indian Institutes of Technology Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE), FIITJEE has long been a trusted name for aspiring engineers. However, recent financial and administrative challenges appear to have severely impacted the institution, leading to these closures.
Here’s what we know is happening.
The unexpected closures have left students in a precarious position, disrupting their preparation for looming examinations.
According to a News9 report, two FIITJEE centres in Pune recently shut down, affecting over 300 students. Similarly, closures in the Rajnagar District have left more than 800 students in distress.
Parents who invested significant amounts in their children’s education are now grappling with the fear of losing their hard-earned money.
“My daughter is enrolled in the Noida centre of FIITJEE to clear the engineering entrance examination. I had submitted two years’ fees in advance, to the tune of Rs 4 lakh, in July 2024. Now, they have shut the centre, affecting my daughter’s dream of becoming an engineer. The centre should either refund our money or complete the remaining course,” a parent told The Hindustan Times.
A group of parents also held a protest outside the FIITJEE centres and filed a complaint at the Sector 58 police station in Noida. Similarly, an FIR has been filed, and over 100 parents have recorded their statements in Bhopal, resulting in the district administration cancelling the coaching centre’s license.
One parent, Rajiv Kumar Chaudhary from Noida told News 18, “We paid 100 per cent of the fees for a five-year program, with two years still remaining. On Monday, we received a message from FIITJEE suggesting that we transfer our children to Aakash Institute. We will decide where to send our child for further coaching, not FIITJEE.”
However, beyond monetary concerns, parents are also deeply worried about the future of their children.
Vijay Krishna Sahay, whose daughter was enrolled in a FIITJEE centre in Patna, said the abrupt closure without any prior notice “completely disrupted my daughter’s studies and put her career at risk.”
Deepika Chauhan, another parent, shared her distress over her daughter Shruti’s education coming to an abrupt halt. Enrolled in FIITJEE’s 4-year Supreme Program, Shruti was unable to complete her 10th-grade syllabus. Chauhan, who paid Rs 2.83 lakh, told The Pioneer that her daughter is now facing severe academic and emotional stress.
FIITJEE’s management has yet to issue any official statement regarding the closure or explain how they intend to address the issue of fee refunds and resolve the ongoing concerns.
According to the Hindustan Times, the sudden closure of FIITJEE centres is largely due to mass resignations by teachers who had not been paid their salaries for months.
“I have been teaching there for more than four years, but I left the Patna coaching centre in November last year because I had not been paid since July 2024,” said one of the teachers.
A staff member from the management team at the Meerut centre explained that the lack of faculty has forced the centre to cease operations.
“It has been a week since our faculty left the centre as they were getting better offers from other coaching centres. We have informed the situation to the FIITJEE Delhi head office, and we will restart the classes if they provide us with sufficient faculty to teach around 500 students,” he said.
As per the law, a company can defer salary payments for up to two months, but only in cases of significant losses. Beyond this, it is mandatory to pay salaries, even if assets need to be sold, stated Shashishekhar Tripathi, a Corporate Lawyer at a Noida-based employment agency, while speaking to Republic Business.
However, in March, FIITJEE denied an immediate liquidity crisis as the reason for non-payment. Instead, the management described it as a strategy to deliver a “wake-up call” to employees.
“When you don’t follow us and don’t do your duty properly at the centres, then we can’t run the centres efficiently enough. Coming to the office without clear goals will not take you anywhere. Salary is not a matter of right; it needs to be earned by doing what is expected of you,” Founder and Managing Director of FIITJEE, Dinesh Kumar Goel, reportedly wrote in an email to employees, as reported by _Moneycontrol._Also read:
Why FIITJEE newspaper advertisement, mocking its former student, is being slammed
The crisis at FIITJEE stems from a combination of administrative lapses, financial mismanagement, and allegations of a toxic work culture.
As per NDTV, the institute faced civic and administrative actions for violations of licensing and fire safety regulations.
The institute has also been accused of diverting funds away from its coaching operations, contributing to a financial crisis that led to the loss of both investors and faculty members. Further, it also faces increased competition from new players in the block like Physics Wallah and Unacademy.
FIITJEE’s founder, DK Goel, a mechanical engineering graduate from IIT Delhi, has recently faced allegations of employee abuse. A video from December 2024 shows Goel in a virtual meeting with various centre heads, hurling abuses and using curse words, leading to accusations of a toxic work environment within the company.
Founded nearly three decades ago, FIITJEE gained prominence for its specialised coaching for engineering and NEET entrance exams, as well as its foundational programmes for students in classes 8, 9, and 10. The institute operates 72 centres across 41 cities and employs over 300 staff members.
with input from agencies
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FIITJEE centres shut in several cities ahead of exams: How thousands of students are now in limbo
