FIITJEE slammed over ‘controversial’ ad belittling girl

The latest advertisement from FIITJEE has landed it in hot water after it received massive criticism from citizens for its controversial content. The advertisement which aimed to claim that FIITJEE is the best coaching centre for engineering exams actually belittled a girl who had dropped out of the institution to join another coaching centre.

The advertisement claimed that the girl’s performance dropped after she joined another institute, referred to as an “EVIL Institute from Kota (now in Delhi) with a history of suicides.” They also claimed that she would have had a perfect 100 NTA score in JEE-Mains 2024 if she hadn’t left FIITJEE for the ‘evil institute’.

This advertisement drew ire from IRS officer Katyayani Sanjay Bhatia who expressed her dismay at FIITJEE’s tactics through the microblogging site ‘X’, tagging the institute and stating, “A new low in advertisements. You are posting the picture of a child saying that she performed badly because she left your institute!” She condemned the coaching institute for “claiming superiority by belittling a girl child” and deemed the advertisement “disgusting.”

Bhatia further criticized FIITJEE for using the term “history of suicides” in reference to the other institute, calling it a “shameful” and “cheap” tactic, especially given the sensitive issue of student suicides in Kota.

Meanwhile, Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu, said, “India has to get out of this ultra-competitive exam pressure on children and young adults. This is one area where I would *not* learn from East Asia but instead learn from Finland which has a superb state-funded educational system that serves every child without such competitive insanity.”

“Intense pressure at a young age all too often destroys talent and creates zombified adults. It is the rat race to extinction. Intense competition is for companies serving a market and for sports, not for children in education,” Vembu added. “As an employer, we have pledged to not even consider academic credentials. We are also investing in educational alternatives that are inspired by Finland,” as per Vembu.

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