You might be aware of those not-so-famous coaching classes who just can’t stop making false claims in order to get more admissions! Well, Oxford Tutors Academy at Andheri Lokhandwala is one among them. Basically, it offers home tutoring to ICSE, CBSE, HSC and SSC students. The center made some false claims to Abhivyakti Verma, a science student, but ended up refunding the fees i.e. Rs 54,000 and paying Rs 3 lakh for mental harassment, as it couldn’t keep up to its promises!
Here’s what happened!
Abhivyakti was preparing for her 12th exams in 2013 and wanted coaching for Chemistry and Mathematics. She signed up with Oxford Tutors Academy who promised to provide a Chemistry home tutor, but even after a month of follow up, no teacher arrived! Talking about Mathematics, the teacher was from Hindi medium and couldn’t teach her well in English.
Neena, Abhivyakti’s mother, who is an advocate, repeatedly asked the coaching center for a Chemistry tutor. On repeated reminders, the center sent a teacher who taught 8th standard ICSE students.
Being afraid that her daughter wouldn’t score well due to this, Neena again contacted the center in the month of November and asked for a new tutor. Then, the center sent an IIT student to help Abhivyakti in solving a question paper bank. However, this IIT student too proved inefficient.
Results of this!
Owing to this negligence of the coaching center, Abhivyakti’s score was badly affected. She had scored 83% in SSC, but thanks to the coaching center and its tutors, that she didn’t even get 60% in her 12th exams. She wanted to seek admission in a Hyderabad college, but owing to less percentage she couldn’t get through. Later, after talks with the management, Abhivyakti managed to secure a seat there.
Abhivyakti stated that
“The Chemistry teacher was slow in covering portions, especially in the first six months. I was weak in Chemistry, and that it is why I had enrolled for coaching. I didn’t know what was happening. I was tense about everything. There was a time when I slipped into depression. It was my father who helped me with Chemistry. Also, the centre replaced the tutor at the last minute. The centre is responsible for my low score.”
On the other hand, Neena stated that the tutoring center promised her of paper solving, revisions and lectures, but at the end, didn’t provide any. She says:
“The teachers were incapable of teaching and because of having different tutors who had their own methods of teaching, my daughter was thoroughly confused and wasn’t prepared for the exams.”
Despite repeated requests, the center ignored their issue! Then in 2015, Abhivyakti’s mom filed a case against the center. However, the institute ignored the notice issued by the court. While passing the judgment, the court stated that these centers mainly help students in performing better but in this case, the center failed to deliver all its promises. The court ordered the coaching center to refund the fees of Rs 54,000 and pay Rs 3 lakh for mental harassment caused to the family. The center also had to pay Rs 10,000 towards the family’s court expenses.
What the center had to say on this!
On the other hand, Diksha Verma, a counsellor with Oxford Tutors Academy blamed Abhivyakti for the results. She said
“We have qualified teachers. The student was weak in studies. She joined the classes late and took tuitions from other centres as well, which is why she was confused. From our side, we have provided all services. In fact, the deal was for 285 hours and we gave 350 hours of service. She is yet to pay us for the extra lectures. The teacher sent to her home used to complain regularly that the student was not doing her homework. There were other complaints as well.”
