Digital Safeguarding & Child Protection Policy

LIQ Tutors exists to give every Ethiopian student access to quality education — and that mission is only meaningful if every student is safe. We are committed to protecting all learners, especially children under 18, from physical, emotional, and digital harm in every part of our service: in-person home tutoring, online video classes, our website, our Telegram bot, and our learning resources.

Safeguarding is not a single feature. It is built into how we recruit and vet tutors, how we design our platform, how we handle data, and how we respond when something goes wrong.

This policy applies to all people — employees, contracted tutors, online class instructors, content creators, developers, partners, and volunteers working with or for LIQ Tutors.

It also covers all services — in-home tutoring sessions, online live and recorded classes, the LIQ Tutors website and dashboards, the LIQ Telegram bot and mini apps, LIQ Academy, Book251, educational games, and any other LIQ product used by learners.

A designated Safeguarding Focal Person is responsible for receiving reports, coordinating responses, maintaining records, and reviewing this policy annually. The focal person can be reached through our Report a Concern page or at +251 963 696 363.

LIQ Tutors aligns its practices with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Ethiopian law on the protection of minors, and recognized international standards for online child safety in education technology.

Every tutor on LIQ undergoes a verification process before meeting any student: identity verification, academic credential checks, background screening, and a practical teaching evaluation. Tutors and staff sign a Code of Conduct that sets clear boundaries for behavior with students — in person and online.

All staff and contractors receive mandatory safeguarding training, including how to recognize warning signs of abuse or distress and how to report concerns. Team members in technical and content roles receive role-specific digital safety training so that protection is considered in everything we design and publish.

Because most LIQ sessions happen in students' homes, we apply specific protections. Sessions should take place in an open or commonly used area of the home, with a parent, guardian, or other responsible adult present or nearby. Tutors must never arrange unsupervised meetings with a student outside scheduled sessions, transport students, or communicate with a child through private channels outside the platform without guardian knowledge.

Parents can verify any tutor's identity with LIQ at any time, and attendance for each session is recorded on the platform, creating a transparent record of when and where tutoring happened.

For online video classes, instructors follow the same Code of Conduct. Classes are scheduled and visible to guardians, recordings (where used) are stored securely, group classes keep communication inside moderated channels, and instructors never request private one-to-one contact with a minor outside approved platform channels.

Our content — books, worksheets, games, and lessons — is curated to be age-appropriate, and we limit unnecessary exposure to external links and third-party platforms.

We design for children: clear language, age-appropriate visuals, and child-friendly summaries of our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

We practice data minimization — collecting only what is necessary to provide tutoring. Bookings for minors are made by parents or guardians, which serves as guardian consent. We do not run behavioral advertising or profiling of children, and children's data is never sold or shared with third parties without consent, except where required by law to protect a child.

Anyone — student, parent, tutor, or member of the public — can report a concern safely and anonymously through our Report a Concern page. Reports go directly and immediately to the Safeguarding Focal Person.

Every report is acknowledged, assessed, documented, and acted on under a defined response protocol. Where a child may be at risk of harm, we act without delay, which may include suspending a tutor pending review and contacting guardians or the relevant authorities. All incidents and outcomes are securely logged and periodically reviewed to improve our systems.

Guardians are partners in safety. We provide a practical Parents' Safety Guide, give parents visibility into bookings, attendance, and progress through the parent dashboard, and keep open communication channels with families and partner schools.

We track safeguarding metrics — reports received, response time, and resolution — and audit our platform regularly for content safety and compliance. Safeguarding risk is assessed for every new product or feature before launch, we collect user feedback on safety and trust, and we work actively to reduce bias and discrimination so the platform serves all students fairly, regardless of gender, disability, language, or background.