Allen Career Institute lays off staff amid declining student enrolments

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Kota-based Allen Career Institute, a prominent coaching centre that prepares students for medical and engineering entrance tests, has started retrenching faculty members and administrative staff as enrolments decline, people aware of the development said. The institute, which runs classroom coaching in more than 60 cities in India, has laid off more than 200 employees, and more are expected to be shown the door.

The drastic step comes within months of Allen restructuring teachers' compensation packages, resulting in a 20-40% drop in their fixed-pay components. "The layoffs started a few months ago. In many cases, the senior faculty in charge of branches were informed that they had to either increase student intake or reduce teacher numbers," said one of the senior teachers who was also in charge of one of the branches.

This teacher was asked to leave as well. "The teacher-student ratio in our classes was 1:25, and we were informed by the Kota centre that it had to become 1:60," the former Allen teacher added. Mint spoke to more than six Allen teachers and more from rival institutes who were aware of the retrenchments in both Kota and other centres.

All of them spoke on the condition of anonymity. "In July, we were given targets but student enrolment numbers will not change immediately. I have let go of a few senior faculty members in the last six months," said the former Allen teacher cited earlier.

Allen did not respond to repeated queries from Mint. One of the main reasons for the layoffs is the fall in students heading to centres like Kota that has prompted Allen to launch a cost-saving drive. According to faculty members across coaching centres of Kota, the reason for the decline