'Shameful, new low in ads': IRS officer blasts FIITJEE for posting picture of its former student who scored low

An Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer on Sunday slammed coaching institute FIITJEE for posting a picture of one of its former students whose performance dropped after she changed the institute. 

FIITJEE, which prepares students for engineering entrance, posted a picture of one of its former students, whose performance declined after she changed the institute. FIITJEE claimed that she was a top performer when she was at the institute. After changing the institute, it claimed, she performed behind many FIITJEE students.  

Katyayani Sanjay Bhatia, Deputy Commissioner-IRS, took strong exception to this advertisement and said no institute has the right to shame students to claim its superiority. "A new low in advertisements @fiitjee. You are posting the picture of a child saying that she performed badly because she left your institute!" 

"I have blurred the picture because I don't believe in this disgusting way of claiming your superiority by belittling a girl child," she said. 

Blasting the institute, the deputy commissioner further said that we talk about parents putting pressure on kids for IIT JEE, "but what about this manner of advertising where you shame a student for not performing? And claiming superiority by claiming that she would have performed had she been in your institute? Shameful."

"And it doesn't stop here. They are claiming their superiority by talking about the institute with a 'history of suicides'. Shameful. Suicides in Kota are an issue that concerns us all above petty competition but claiming in this manner is cheap," she said.

Bhatia tagged Education Ministry and Union Minister Smriti Irani and requested them to take note. She said such advertising malpractices need to be checked as no institute has the right to shame students to claim its superiority. "This also propagates the very wrong belief that right strategy=right result. Life is not so linear. Let's teach the younger generation nishkam karma and despite all hardwork results are not in our hands. JEE aspirants should not be mislead," she said. 

She also requested the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) to take against FIITJEE. "To publish a student's picture in a national daily saying that they couldn't perform is disgusting and puts such undue pressure on students." The officer said getting into IIT really isn't everything. "Life indeed is how you respond to situations, not how you just win. The examination of life is really beyond such petty messaging by @fiitjee."

Reacting to Bhatia's post, Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu said India has to get out of this ultra-competitive exam pressure on children and young adults. He said this is one area where he 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," he said, adding that intense competition is for companies serving a market and for sports, not for children in education. "As an employer, we have pledged to not even consider academic credentials. We are also investing in educational alternatives that are inspired by Finland."