From shutdown to revival: FIITJEE’s attempt to revive operations amidst financial crisis and parents unrest

The institute, which had 73 study centres across the country, has been facing a financial crisis, with staff at many branches resigning en masse, leaving students and parents in limbo.

Not much has changed since then.

Sunday saw many parents of students, who used to study at the centre before it was shut down in January, holding a protest. Their grievance: They have received “no concrete response” on refund of fees they had paid to FIITJEE.

These parents had shifted their children to other coaching institutes, a decision taken by many due to “a lack in trust and confidence” in FIITJEE. “We don’t want our child to rejoin FIITJEE. We have lost trust,” said a parent who was seen protesting on Sunday, adding that “there is no clarity on refunds”.

Some of the parents have also got an FIR lodged against the Sector 62 centre – the case now been transferred to the Crime Branch. With classes resuming at the centre, sources said the 14-member faculty is completely new. “The focus is on filling the academic gap… Extra sessions have been planned to compensate for lost time,” a faculty member said.

Maintaining that the number of students enrolling at the centre is increasing, the faculty member added, “The timing of the centre shutting down coincided with the final exams of students, which minimised learning loss… We have received strong and positive feedback from students who have started attending classes.”

Parents, however, remain unconvinced. “Even if classes resume, how can we trust the system again,” asked one.

According to many parents, they had no choice but to move their children to other institutions.

Nishant Garg, whose child is in Class 11, was enrolled with FIITJEE’s Kalu Sarai Centre. “We had to pay the full fee again at another institute. FIITJEE didn’t communicate for months. The faculty we trusted is gone, and we have lost lakhs,” he said.

Birendra Bisht, whose child – now in Class 12 – was enrolled with the Noida centre, added: “After the centre shut down in January, I had to get my child enrolled with Aakash Institute, paying fresh admission fees for the same course all over again. I haven’t received any refund yet.”
A K Jha, another parent who was at the protest, said, “FIITJEE’s new faculty members told us that they will hold a management-level meeting regarding the issue of refunds. But we are very sceptical of the assurance because they did not provide us with any date for the same.”

Meanwhile, like the Noida centre, several FIITJEE centres are set to resume operation, including its main centre at Kalu Sarai. Located at the franchise’s headquarters in South Delhi, the centre is set to start classes on Tuesday.

Sources said centres in Janakpuri and Laxmi Nagar, too, are preparing to resume classes.

In an official statement, FIITJEE had earlier described the crisis as temporary and claimed that the company is working to resume operations at all affected locations. The institute blamed its managing partners for the financial collapse, alleging that they deserted their posts overnight, leaving the system in disarray. FIITJEE had further claimed that a “criminal conspiracy” was at play and called for a probe.