Students, parents left in the lurch as FIITJEE centers shut down over nonpayment of staff salaries

Hundreds of students and their parents are running from pillar to post seeking answers after several FIITJEE (Forum for Indian Institute of Technology-Joint Entrance Examination) coaching centres across North India shut down without any prior notice in the past few days.

CREDIT: FIITJEE

FIITJEE coaching centres shut down

According to reports, at least eight FIITJEE coaching centres in cities including Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Varanasi, Delhi, Bhopal, and Patna have shut down after faculty members there quit en masse due to alleged non-payment of salaries.

FIITJEE, which was founded by DK Goel, a Mechanical Engineering graduate from IIT Delhi in 1992, has 72 centres across 41 cities and over 300 employees.

CREDIT: FIITJEE

Salaried not paid for months

Faculty members have allegedly not been paid for months, resulting in many of them quitting.

¡°An outgoing FIITJEE teacher told us that most faculty members are leaving as they have not been paid salaries for several months,¡± a parent said.

¡°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,¡± another parent added.

Parents seek refund

Several parents have also filed police complaints against FIITJEE following the shutdown of coaching centres and are seeking a refund of the fees they have already deposited.

CREDIT: FIITJEE

Chairman abused saff when asked about salary delay

This is not the first time FIITJEE has come under the scanner for non-payment of salaries to teachers at their coaching centres.

Last month, a video had surfaced on social media showing Goel abusing employees during a virtual meeting to address the delay in the disbursement of salaries.

When an employee from FIITJEE's Thane branch commented about the company's recent investments in the ed-tech industry, Goel responded by showering personal insults and questioning the character of the staff member's mother.

CREDIT: FIITJEE

Continuing his tirade, Goel further said that whoever that employee was, he wanted him out of FIITJEE.

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