THE ESSENTIALS
Guide with Integrity and Responsibility
Keep Students Safe
A student’s safety, dignity, and well-being must come before convenience, recognition, or outcomes.
Maintain Professional Boundaries
Keep every interaction relevant, age-appropriate, and within the approved mentorship purpose.
Represent Yourself Honestly
Provide accurate information about your identity, qualifications, experience, and areas of expertise.
Protect Privacy
Access, use, and share student information only when authorised and necessary.
Offer Guidance, Not Guarantees
Provide informed feedback without promising grades, admissions, scholarships, selection, internships, or employment.
Report Concerns
Report behaviour, disclosures, or circumstances that may place a student at risk.
01 — WHO THIS APPLIES TO
Scope and Responsibilities
This Code applies to:
- Independent mentors
- Educators and subject specialists
- Researchers and academics
- Professionals and entrepreneurs
- Guest experts and facilitators
- Partner personnel providing mentorship
- Applicants undergoing mentor review
Mentors are responsible for:
- Their profile and professional claims
- Their conduct before, during, and after sessions
- Communication with students and families
- Content, resources, and advice they provide
- Following consent, supervision, and reporting requirements
- Remaining within their genuine areas of competence
Approval or publication of a mentor profile does not create an employment relationship unless a written agreement expressly states otherwise.
02 — THE MENTORSHIP PURPOSE
Mentor’s Professional Role
Mentors provide educational, academic, project, career, skill, or leadership guidance.
Mentors should:
- Understand the student’s goal before offering guidance
- Set realistic expectations
- Provide constructive and age-appropriate feedback
- Explain when information is based on personal experience or opinion
- Refer the student to an appropriate person or service when a request falls outside their expertise
- Avoid making decisions on behalf of the student or family
Mentorship does not replace medical, psychological, legal, financial, or other regulated professional advice.
Mentors must not guarantee:
03 — SAFEGUARDING FIRST
Child Safety and Professional Boundaries
✓ Mentors must
- Act in the student’s best interests
- Use respectful and age-appropriate language
- Follow applicable parent, guardian, or school-involvement requirements
- Use only approved communication channels
- Keep interactions connected to the mentorship purpose
- Avoid unnecessary access to personal information
- Follow approved session, consent, and supervision arrangements
× Mentors must not
- Groom, sexualise, threaten, shame, or manipulate a student
- Pursue romantic or sexual contact
- Ask a student to keep communications or meetings secret
- Arrange unapproved private or in-person meetings
- Move communication to personal channels without authorisation
- Request intimate images or sexual content
- Exploit trust, authority, or dependency
- Establish an inappropriate personal, financial, or emotional relationship
Complete safeguarding requirements are provided in the Child Safety Policy.
Read the Child Safety Policy04 — EVERY INTERACTION
Communication and Session Conduct
Before a Session
- Review the confirmed request and student level
- Clarify the session objective
- Use the approved link, time, and format
- Identify any required preparation
- Disclose material limitations or conflicts
During a Session
- Begin and end within the agreed time where reasonably possible
- Keep the discussion relevant and professional
- Encourage questions without humiliation or pressure
- Avoid discriminatory, abusive, political, or religious persuasion unrelated to the session
- Use suitable resources and examples
- Follow recording and supervision requirements
After a Session
- Share agreed follow-up material through approved channels
- Keep notes limited to what is reasonably necessary
- Avoid repeated or unrelated contact
- Report any safety concern promptly
Sessions may be recorded only with prior notice, a valid purpose, and all required permissions.
05 — HANDLE INFORMATION CAREFULLY
Privacy and Confidentiality
Mentors may access student information only when necessary for an authorised mentorship activity.
Mentors must not:
- Copy or retain unnecessary personal information
- Share student information without authority
- Publish session details, messages, or student work without permission
- Record screens, calls, or conversations without required consent
- Request passwords, PINs, CVVs, OTPs, or unnecessary identity documents
- Use student information for personal, promotional, research, or commercial purposes without authorisation
Confidentiality does not prevent a mentor from reporting a safety concern, legal obligation, or serious risk of harm through the required process.
Further information is available in the Privacy Policy.
Read the Privacy Policy06 — BUILD TRUST
Honest Representation and Conflicts of Interest
Mentors must accurately represent:
Mentors must promptly update information that becomes inaccurate. A mentor must disclose any personal, professional, financial, or institutional interest that could affect—or reasonably appear to affect—their guidance.
Mentors must not:
- Use false qualifications or achievements
- Impersonate another person or organisation
- Claim endorsement by K12 Hunar without permission
- Present personal opinion as an official K12 Hunar position
- Provide misleading reviews or testimonials
- Influence a selection process in which they have an undisclosed interest
07 — TRANSPARENT ARRANGEMENTS
Fees, Gifts, and External Services
Mentors may charge only fees displayed or approved through the applicable K12 Hunar process.
Mentors must not:
- Request direct or undisclosed payment from a student
- Move a Platform booking outside K12 Hunar to avoid applicable controls or fees
- Pressure students to purchase products, courses, or services
- Use mentorship primarily for recruitment, sales, or personal promotion
- Offer inappropriate gifts, loans, rewards, or financial incentives
- Request access to a student’s financial account or payment credentials
Any external service or referral must be relevant, optional, transparent, and permitted by K12 Hunar.
Refund and cancellation terms are governed by the applicable booking terms and Refund and Cancellation Policy.
08 — ZERO TOLERANCE
Prohibited Conduct
Mentors must not engage in:
Abuse, grooming, exploitation, or sexual conduct
Bullying, harassment, threats, or discrimination
Physical violence or unsafe punishment
Encouragement of self-harm or dangerous activities
Fraud, bribery, or financial exploitation
Falsification of credentials, reviews, or session records
Unauthorised disclosure of personal information
Copyright infringement or unlawful sharing of resources
Manipulation of applications, competitions, results, or selections
Retaliation against someone who reports a concern
Conduct that compromises student safety or Platform integrity
Serious misconduct may be reported to the relevant school, employer, professional body, service provider, or authority.
REPORTING RESPONSIBILITIES
Act When a Student May Be at Risk
A mentor who receives a disclosure or observes concerning behaviour should act calmly, carefully, and without delay.
Listen calmly and take the concern seriously
Avoid blame, pressure, or repeated questioning
Do not promise complete secrecy
Record only the necessary facts
Avoid conducting an independent investigation
Report the concern promptly through the designated process
Contact emergency services or authorities where required
K12 Hunar cannot guarantee absolute confidentiality. Information will be shared only where reasonably necessary for safety, investigation, or legal compliance.
Contact the appropriate emergency service without waiting for a Platform response.
Reporting must comply with applicable law, including the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
09 — ACCOUNTABILITY
Monitoring, Violations, and Enforcement
K12 Hunar may review mentor profiles, reports, session records, and relevant Platform activity where permitted and reasonably necessary.
Possible actions include:
The response will depend on the severity, frequency, context, available evidence, and risk of harm. Immediate restrictions may be imposed where necessary to protect students or preserve the integrity of an investigation.
Where appropriate, a mentor may request review through the grievance process.
View the Grievance Redressal Policy10 — YOUR COMMITMENT
Acceptance and Policy Changes
Before a profile is published or mentorship begins, mentors should confirm that they have read and agree to follow this Code and related policies.
K12 Hunar may require renewed acknowledgement after a material update.
This Code may be revised to reflect changes in law, Platform services, safety procedures, or operational practices. The Last updated date at the top of the page will show when it was revised.
A mentor who cannot comply must stop accepting requests and notify K12 Hunar.
MENTOR SUPPORT
Questions About Mentor Conduct?
Contact K12 Hunar for guidance about professional boundaries, safeguarding responsibilities, conflicts of interest, or a possible violation of this Code.
Do not send sensitive images or unnecessary personal information through ordinary email. Use the secure reporting process where available.
For child-safety concerns, use the dedicated Child Safety Policy reporting process.