Safeguarding international schools in India: country guide

State governments recognise private schools, so your state education department is the first authority to know. The Ministry of Education's guidelines, read for this guide, describe no separate licence for international schools.

The Ministry of Education's 2021 guidelines on school safety and security explain the rule. Section 18 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (the RTE Act) requires private elementary schools to get state recognition. Secondary schools are affiliated to an examination board, and the guidelines ask boards to add safety conditions to their affiliation rules.

Some international schools in India teach the International Baccalaureate (IB). Some belong to the Council of International Schools (CIS) or hold Middle States Association (MSA) accreditation. The UK Department for Education's list of accredited British schools overseas, read on 19 October 2026, names no school in India.

This guide is general information and not legal advice. Confirm current law with local counsel and the relevant authority.

The main law is the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. It covers sexual assault, sexual harassment and the use of children in pornography. It treats anyone under 18 as a child.

UNICEF India also lists the Juvenile Justice Act among four core child protection laws. The Ministry's guidelines cite Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, when school staff use corporal punishment.

The guidelines also ask every school to set up a grievance committee on child sexual abuse each academic year. They suggest a School Safety Committee that includes a Student Safety Officer or Child Protection Officer from the staff. They are guidelines, so check with your state which parts it has made binding.

Yes, for sexual offences against children. Section 19 of the POCSO Act covers any person. If you know an offence has happened, or fear one is likely, you must tell the Special Juvenile Police Unit or the local police.

Section 21 makes failure to report an offence, with up to six months in prison, a fine, or both. A person in charge of an institution who fails to report an offence by a subordinate faces up to one year in prison and a fine.

Section 19(7) protects anyone who reports in good faith from civil and criminal liability. The police must then tell the Child Welfare Committee and the court within 24 hours, and arrange care if the child needs it.

The Act has no step for an internal inquiry first. A Karnataka High Court order of 2 July 2026, reported by SCC Times, said a school cannot replace the duty to report with an internal inquiry. That is one court's view, so ask counsel how it applies in your state.

Section 19 covers POCSO offences only. Read how this compares across countries in mandatory reporting laws for international schools.

If a child is in immediate danger, call 112, the national emergency number, first. Then follow your school's child protection procedure and tell your DSL the same day. Keep these numbers where staff and students can read them.

• 112: the national emergency number, as listed in the Ministry of Education's school safety guidelines. Check it is current.
• 1098: the toll-free child helpline, listed by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Children, or adults for them, can call.
• Local police or the Special Juvenile Police Unit: the bodies Section 19 names for reports.
• Your DSL: tell them the same day, every time.

The Expectations for School Communities from the International Task Force on Child Protection (ITFCP) ask for centralised reporting procedures. They ask schools to name designated leads, and to set out actions such as informing law enforcement as appropriate. Indian law puts a personal duty on every person to tell the police about a sexual offence against a child.

The two can pull apart. The ITFCP text says to inform law enforcement as appropriate. For a sexual offence against a child, Section 19 names every person and leaves no choice.

One procedure can serve both. Staff tell the DSL the same day, and if the concern may involve a sexual offence, the school reports to the police without waiting for an internal inquiry. Any adult can report directly if the DSL cannot be reached.

Many schools model their policy on England's KCSIE (see which parts of KCSIE travel abroad). It has no legal force in India, so say so in your policy and name the Indian duties beside it. Ask counsel to confirm the final wording.

The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023, covers personal data in digital form. Its Rules were published on 13 November 2025. The main duties start 18 months later, so plan for about May 2027, and ask counsel to check the dates.

Under Section 9 of the Act, a school needs verifiable parental consent before it processes a child's data. A child is anyone under 18. The Fourth Schedule to the Rules (see Rule 12) excuses schools from this only for tracking and behavioural monitoring done for educational activities or for the safety of enrolled children.

Whether a safeguarding file fits that wording is a question for counsel. Part B of the same Schedule also covers processing to perform a function or duty in the interests of a child under Indian law. Ask whether a POCSO report fits there.

The Act and Rules read for this guide do not require every record to stay in India. Section 16 lets the government restrict transfers to countries it names. Under Rule 7, a breach must be reported to the Data Protection Board without delay, with a detailed report within 72 hours unless the Board allows longer.

Teachers may work in English, but drivers, guards, cleaners and nurses may work in Hindi or another Indian language. Section 5(3) of the DPDP Act says a data notice must be available in English or any language in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution.

Train each group in the language it uses. Read more on translation and localisation of safeguarding training.

When a child reports to the police, the POCSO Act says the police must record it in simple language the child understands. If the child does not follow the language used, a translator or interpreter must be provided (Section 19, subsections 3 and 4).

Corporal punishment is only partly banned. Section 17 of the RTE Act bans physical punishment and mental harassment for children aged 6 to 14, according to the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children. Some states, including Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, ban it in all schools.

Ban physical punishment for every age in your code of conduct, whatever your state allows. Teach staff that a good faith report is protected, so that nobody holds back out of respect for a senior colleague.

The Ministry of Education's guidelines say Rule 3 of the POCSO Rules, 2020, requires schools to run police verification and background checks on a periodic basis. This covers all staff, teaching or not, regular or on contract.

For a foreign national living in India, the Ministry of External Affairs says a police clearance certificate comes from the district police or the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO). The same page covers Indian passport holders separately.

Add certificates from the other countries where a candidate has lived. The steps in safer recruitment for international schools show how to fit these checks together.

Use this list in your first term, and ask local counsel to review the answers. This guide is general information, not legal advice.

• Write one reporting route on one page: staff tell the DSL the same day, and no police report waits on an inquiry.
• Name who reports to the police when you are away, with their phone numbers.
• Post 112, 1098 and your local police contact where staff and students can read them.
• Ask your state education department which safety rules apply to your school.
• Check police verification for every adult, including drivers, guards and contractors.
• List where safeguarding records are stored, and note the DPDP start date in your calendar.
• Train non-teaching staff in the language they use every day.