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Certificate Course in POCSO and Child Protection for Schools, Teachers and Institutions

Categories: Certificate courses
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About Course

When a child in a school, coaching centre, hostel, sports academy, NGO or hospital is sexually abused, the adults around that child face hard questions within hours. Who must go to the police, and how fast? Can the school inquire first? What if the complaint is wrong? What can be said to other parents, and what must never be shared? Since July 2026 the Supreme Court has made the answer to the most important question unmistakable: a child’s disclosure must be reported, with no internal “verification” first. This course gives teachers, heads and staff a clear, practical command of the POCSO Act and related law, and a ready plan for what to do, in order.

What you will learn

  • Who is a child under the POCSO Act, why consent is irrelevant below 18, and how the Act is gender-neutral
  • The offences and punishments under the POCSO Act as amended in 2019, including aggravated offences by staff and persons in authority (ss.5, 6, 9, 10)
  • The mandatory reporting duty (s.19), punishment for failure to report (s.21), and the judgments from Shankar Kisanrao Khade (2013) to AAA v. Linda Sema (2026)
  • The narrow scope of the false complaint offence (s.22) and how to be fair to staff who are accused
  • Identity protection under POCSO s.23, BNS s.72 and the Nipun Saxena judgment
  • What happens after a report: statements, medical examination, emergency care, Special Courts, support persons and compensation under the POCSO Rules 2020
  • School safety frameworks, safe recruitment and police verification, warning signs, and how to respond to a disclosure
  • Online exploitation and reporting routes, with a model child protection policy, staff code of conduct, reporting flowchart, incident register and training checklist

Who this course is for

Teachers, principals and vice-principals; school owners, trustees and managing committees; coaching-centre owners and staff; hostel wardens and house parents; sports coaches and academy staff; transport in-charges and counsellors; NGO, shelter and healthcare staff; and B.Ed., M.Ed. and law students who want a practical, institution-focused understanding of child protection law. No legal background is needed.

How the course works

6 modules, 18 lessons, with a quiz of 5 questions after each module. Every lesson works through real situations in Indian institutions and ends with key takeaways. Abuse and grooming are described only at the level of general patterns and warning signs, as in official child protection training. The last module is a practical toolkit: reporting routes, a model child protection policy, a staff code of conduct, a ten-step disclosure and reporting flowchart, an incident register and an annual training checklist.

How the certificate works

  • A final test of 30 multiple-choice questions, mostly real-life situations, with a 45-minute time limit
  • Pass mark 60%; you can retry if you do not pass
  • On passing, you receive a Lexfolio certificate with a unique ID, verifiable at lexfolio.in/verify-certificate/
  • It is a certificate of completion from Lexfolio, not a degree, diploma or professional qualification

This course is education and general information, not legal advice. It states the law as on 31 October 2026. For a specific case, consult a lawyer or the District Legal Services Authority (NALSA helpline 15100).

Access: after payment, open My account > Courses and start learning. Lifetime access.

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What Will You Learn?

  • Identify who is a child and the categories of offences under the POCSO Act as amended in 2019
  • Recognise aggravated offences by staff and persons in authority and the punishments
  • Meet the mandatory reporting duty under s.19 and avoid liability under s.21
  • Handle allegations fairly, understanding the narrow scope of s.22 on false complaints
  • Protect a child's identity under POCSO s.23, BNS s.72 and Nipun Saxena
  • Support a child through statements, medical care, Special Court trial, support persons and compensation
  • Build a child protection policy with safe recruitment, a code of conduct and online and CCTV rules
  • Respond correctly to a disclosure and use the right reporting routes, online and offline

Course Content

Module 1: Why child protection matters, and the legal map
Why a child protection failure becomes a legal crisis for a school, coaching centre, hostel, academy, NGO or hospital, who the law protects, and how the POCSO Act, its Rules and related laws fit together.

  • Lesson 1.1: Why this matters, who this course is for, and how it works
  • Lesson 1.2: The legal map: POCSO, its Rules and the laws around it
  • Lesson 1.3: How institutions become liable
  • Module 1 quiz

Module 2: The offences and punishments under the POCSO Act
The categories of offences under the POCSO Act as amended in 2019, the punishments, the aggravated offences by persons in authority and institutional staff, and the offences relating to sexual harassment and abusive material, including online.

Module 3: The duty to report, false complaints and confidentiality
Mandatory reporting under ss.19 to 21 and what the courts have said about it, the narrow scope of the false complaint offence under s.22, and how to protect a child's identity under s.23, BNS s.72 and the Nipun Saxena judgment.

Module 4: After the report: investigation, trial and support
What happens once a report is made: recording the child's statement, medical examination and emergency care, investigation timelines, Special Courts and child-friendly trial, support persons, compensation and the role of the Child Welfare Committee, and what the institution should do at each stage.

Module 5: Building a safe institution
The safety frameworks that apply to schools and other institutions, the building blocks of a child protection policy (safe recruitment, codes of conduct, the two-adult rule, transport, hostels, sports, CCTV and children's data), and how to recognise warning signs and respond to a child's disclosure.

Module 6: Online safety, reporting routes and the practical toolkit
Online exploitation and the reporting routes (police and SJPU, 112, 1098, cybercrime.gov.in, 1930, NCPCR's e-Baal Nidan and POCSO e-box), followed by ready-to-adapt formats: a model child protection policy, a staff code of conduct, a disclosure-response and reporting flowchart, an incident register and a training checklist.

Final Assessment and Certificate
Pass the final assessment with 60% or more to receive your certificate of completion. You have 3 attempts.

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