Before you recommend a programme to students: a checklist for principals and counsellors

What changes when the school, not a parent, recommends a programme?

A family that finds a programme on its own weighs it alone. When the school forwards the same brochure, it reaches parents on the school’s letterhead or in its parents’ group. A parent may read a school circular as a sign that the school has looked. The provider’s claims then borrow the school’s standing, whether or not anyone checked them.

The school also holds what a family does not: class lists, parents’ contact details, a channel to every home, staff time, rooms and a logo. A partnership can ask for any of them. So this checklist covers what the school’s name adds, as questions a school can put to a provider in writing.

This checklist leaves the teaching itself aside. Our parents’ guide asks 15 questions a parent can put to any programme, the teaching among them. Everything below is this guide’s suggested method unless an official page is named.

Who runs the programme, and can its claims be checked?

A brochure can carry a brand, a website and a phone number without saying which organisation stands behind them. This guide suggests the school ask, in writing:

• What is the legal name of the organisation that runs the programme, and who signs for it?
• Does that organisation also collect the money and hold students’ details?
• Who is the named contact before, during and after the programme?
• Does any university, government body or other organisation named in the brochure run, certify or back it, and where does that body say so?

Words such as “official”, “in association with” or “certified by” are claims to check, not facts to repeat. The plainest check is the named body’s own page, or a written answer from that body. If neither confirms the claim, the circular can leave it out.

Model UN offers a worked example. The UN’s own Model UN FAQ says: “The United Nations does not organize Model UN conferences.” The FAQ speaks of Model UN only. A Model UN that suggests UN backing can be asked what the suggestion rests on before the school’s name goes on a circular. The rest of the Model UN checks are in our teachers’ checklist for conferences.

Claims about results need the same treatment. Where a provider cites awards, admissions or students being “selected”, this guide suggests asking what each claim rests on, in writing. A testimonial is one person’s account, and a claim without evidence stays out of anything the school sends.

Who pays, and is anyone at the school paid?

A circular will be read as standing behind the price too. This guide suggests getting these in writing before anything goes to families:

• The full fee per student, whether taxes are included, and every extra, such as travel, stay, meals, materials or a certificate.
• The refund rule: what happens if a student withdraws or falls ill, and what happens if the provider cancels or moves the dates.
• Who collects the money: the provider, directly from families, or the school on the provider’s behalf. If the school collects, who issues receipts and handles refunds?

Then comes the question parents cannot see: does anyone at the school gain from the recommendation? That covers a commission or per-student fee to the school, a teacher or a counsellor; free places; sponsorship of a school event; and gifts or paid trips for staff.

This guide suggests one of two courses: tell parents plainly in the circular, or decline the benefit. If anyone at the school gains, parents should hear it from the school. Whether the school may accept a benefit at all is for its own rules and its counsel. This guide prints no fee; the provider’s written quote is what counts.

Our guide to what student programmes cost sets out what a fee should buy.

What does a partnership or MoU ask of the school?

Some providers ask for more than a circular: a memorandum of understanding (MoU), a “partner school” label or a standing arrangement, each lending the school’s name beyond one programme. This guide suggests reading what it asks for, item by item:

• Name and logo: where they appear, for how long, and whether the school approves each use.
• Listings: whether the school is shown as a “partner school” on the provider’s site, brochures or social media.
• Student ambassadors: whether students are asked to promote the programme to classmates, and on what terms.
• Exclusivity: whether the school is asked not to work with other providers.
• Contact lists: whether the school passes on students’ or parents’ names, numbers or emails.
• Photos and videos: whether students are photographed or recorded, and where the images go.
• Term and exit: how long it runs, how either side ends it, and what happens to the school’s name and any data afterwards.

Any of these can be reasonable; what matters is that the school knows what it lends before it signs. The school’s counsel reads an MoU first; this guide says nothing about what any clause means in law.

What happens to students’ personal data?

On 14 November 2025, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) announced that the Government of India has notified the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Rules, 2025. The release says the DPDP Act, 2023 sets out the obligations of entities handling digital personal data, which it calls Data Fiduciaries, and the rights and duties of individuals, which it calls Data Principals.

PIB says the Rules give organisations an 18-month phased timeline for compliance, to allow a smooth transition; this guide derives no date from it. Our guide to hosting a programme at school sets out the Act’s dates. The release also says:

• Data Fiduciaries are to issue consent notices that stand alone, are clear and simple, and explain the specific purpose for which personal data is collected and used.
• Before processing children’s personal data, Data Fiduciaries must obtain verifiable consent, with limited exemptions for essential purposes; the release names healthcare, education and real-time safety as examples.
• Data Fiduciaries must display clear contact information, such as a designated officer’s or a Data Protection Officer’s, for questions about processing.
• Individuals may ask to access, correct, update or erase their personal data, and Data Fiduciaries must respond within a maximum of 90 days.

Who holds which of these duties for a given programme, whether any exemption reaches it, and from when, are questions for the school’s counsel, not for this guide.

This guide’s own suggestion is simpler: families register directly with the provider, and the school hands over no class lists or parents’ contact details. The school can also ask the provider, in writing:

• What does it collect about each student, for what purpose, and who sees it?
• How long is it kept, and how is it deleted afterwards?
• How can a parent see, correct or erase it, and whom does a parent write to?

Who keeps students safe, and where is a concern raised?

On 23 August 2024, PIB said the Ministry of Education had directed all States and Union Territories to implement the Guidelines on School Safety and Security, which its Department of School Education and Literacy developed and circulated to States and Union Territories in 2021. PIB calls them “advisory in nature”, adding that States and Union Territories may add to or modify them and notify them.

Among their purposes, PIB lists “to fix accountability for keeping children safe and secure in schools”, placing it on the management, principals and teachers of private unaided schools, and on heads of school, teachers and education administration in government and government-aided ones. The release speaks of schools. What applies to a programme the school recommends, and what its State or Union Territory has notified, is for the school’s counsel.

Our guide to hosting a programme at school sets out what the safety documents and the data protection law say.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) lists titles on its guidelines page, including the “Manual on Safety and Security of Children in Schools”, “Guidelines on cyber safety”, a “Being safe online” guideline, “Regulatory guidelines for hostel of educational institutions for children” and “Guidelines for schools on preventing bullying and cyber bullying”.

A school can read those that fit: the online-safety titles for online sessions, the hostel guidelines for a night away. For a concern, NCPCR’s Lodge Complaint page offers one route to “Report Child Sexual Abuse Complaint (POCSO Related)” and another to “Report Any Child Rights Complaint (Other than POCSO)”. What any of these means for the school is for its counsel.

This guide suggests asking the provider, in writing:

• Who supervises, and how many adults are present at each session, trip or stay?
• What checks has the provider made on adults who work with students?
• Are one-to-one meetings, private messages or recordings of students allowed?
• For travel or a night away, who goes, where do students stay, and what do parents permit in writing?
• Who is the named contact during the programme, and how is a concern raised with the provider and the school?

What will it take from the school?

Before agreeing, the school can list what a programme will take, so that a principal can weigh it against the term:

• Staff time: who coordinates with the provider, answers parents and accompanies students, and for how many hours.
• Rooms and equipment for any sessions held at school.
• Timetable: lessons or tests students would miss, and how they catch up.
• Approvals: who in management signs off, and any further permission a trip needs.
• Paperwork: consent forms, payment records and the file described below.

For students in Class 10 and Class 12, the board exams come first. The school’s own board calendar comes before any programme date.

How should the school tell parents?

The note to parents is where the school’s checking shows. This guide suggests it say plainly whether the school recommends the programme, permits it or only passes on information, since parents read those differently. It can then cover:

• who runs the programme, and that an outside organisation runs it, not the school;
• that taking part is optional, and what happens for students who do not join;
• the full cost, what it includes, who collects it, and where the refund rule is written;
• whether the school or any of its staff receives anything from the provider;
• that families register directly, and what the provider collects about each student;
• supervision, travel and the named contact during the programme;
• whom at the school a parent can ask, and how to raise a concern.

A note that says what the school checked, and what it could not, lets a parent decide with the facts the school had.

What should the school keep on file, and check afterwards?

One file per programme, kept by whoever coordinated it, can hold:

• the provider’s written answers to the questions above;
• any MoU or letter, signed and dated;
• the note to parents, as sent;
• a record of any payment or benefit to the school or its staff, or a note that there was none;
• the provider’s named contact and its contact for data questions.

Afterwards, the school can ask students and parents how it went, whether the programme matched what was promised and whether any concern was raised, and ask the provider in writing whether it deleted data as agreed. The answers decide whether the school recommends it again.

Where One Young India fits

We run programmes in this area, so weigh this section with that in mind.

One Young India offers the Model G20 school edition, through which a school hosts an economic-diplomacy summit of its own, built around the G20’s agenda, with decisions reached by consensus. Students in Grades 8 to 12 take part, in person or online, and the committees, rules and training come from One Young India. Enquire to host. Model G20 is an independent educational programme, not affiliated with the G20.

The Learnacy Schools network calls itself “A network, not an association”. It has “No membership fee, no dues, ever”, and “Belief is the only requirement.” A school applies by describing how it already teaches for curiosity; One Young India sends the charter and the seal, and sets up a short conversation. Become a partner school.

Our editions page lists past school editions: See schools that host. This guide offers none of those schools as a reference.

Our answers to this guide’s checks:

• Legal name. Our privacy policy names us as “OYI Learning Systems LLP (dba One Young India)”.
• Who runs it. One Young India trains the school’s student secretariat to chair; the school’s own students run the summit.
• Certificate. Participants earn a certificate issued jointly by One Young India and FLAME University.
• What hosting takes. A school enquires first, and One Young India replies with dates, formats and what hosting takes. The enquiry form invites approximate student numbers, preferred dates, and in person or online.
• Payment for referrals. Our Learnacy Schools page says: “We do not pay schools, principals, teachers or other staff for referring students.”
• What a partnership asks. A school affirms the network’s charter, and the network page says: “Nothing to audit, nothing to renew, nothing to pay.” That page also shows school logos under “Schools we work with”, and our editions page names past host schools.
• Students’ data. Our privacy policy says: “Where a participant is a minor, we collect their data through a parent or guardian, who provides consent on their behalf. We limit collection to what a programme reasonably requires.” It keeps a child’s data “only as long as needed to deliver the programme” and to meet legal, tax and accounting obligations.
• Data requests. For access, correction, deletion or withdrawal of consent, our privacy policy says to “email our Grievance Officer at info@oneyoungindia.com with the subject ‘Data request’”.
• Our pages do not state: who pays for a hosted edition; whether our refund policy covers it; the terms on which a school’s name or logo appears on our pages; what student data a hosted edition collects; who supervises students and what checks adults pass; the staff hours and rooms hosting needs; a note for parents. Ask us in writing before agreeing.

Common questions

What is a school partnership programme?

The phrase covers arrangements in which an outside organisation offers students a programme through their school, sometimes under an MoU, using the school’s name and its channel to parents. This guide’s questions can go to the provider in writing, and the school’s counsel can read any MoU.

Does a school need parents’ consent to share students’ details with a provider?

PIB’s release on the DPDP Rules says Data Fiduciaries must obtain verifiable consent before processing children’s personal data, with limited exemptions for essential purposes. How that reaches a school or a provider is for the school’s counsel. This guide suggests that families register directly and the school shares no class lists.

How should a school choose an MUN conference?

This guide names and ranks no conference; a school can put the same written questions to a conference organiser as to any provider, starting with who runs it and what any claim of UN backing rests on. Our teachers’ checklist for MUN conferences sets out the rest.

Are certificate courses for school students worth recommending?

A certificate carries the standing of whoever issues it. This guide suggests asking who issues it, what a student completes to earn it, and whether any body named on it confirms its role in writing. If that stays unclear, the school can pass the course on as information only.

Should a school accept free places or a fee from a provider?

This guide suggests telling parents about any fee, commission, free place or sponsorship in the circular itself, or declining it, as the school’s own rules and its counsel allow. Leaving it out of the circular is the one course this guide advises against.

Sources

Each outside page was read on 12 November 2026, India time; our own pages were read between 8 and 12 November 2026, the privacy policy on 12 November 2026. How these pages are checked and corrected: the editorial desk.

1. United Nations, Model United Nations, Frequently Asked Questions.
2. Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Electronics & IT, release on the notification of the DPDP Rules, 2025, 14 November 2025.
3. Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Education, release on the Guidelines on School Safety and Security, 23 August 2024.
4. National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Guidelines.
5. National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Lodge Complaint.
6. One Young India (our own pages): the school edition page, the editions page, the Learnacy Schools page and the privacy policy.

Related

• What the APAAR ID is, and why schools ask for it
• More on Student Programs & Admissions