Safety precautions before you meet up with any tutor, parent

At ThinkVidya, we constantly work to ensure we have the right people as part of our network. This includes Tutors, Teachers and Trainers as well as Parents. We have our own Tutor, Trainer verification program where we encourage Tutors to get verified by us in exchange for better promotion of their profile.  However, we understand that this may not be sufficient to ensure safety and security of students and parents looking for Tutors, Trainers. First, not everyone on our network is “verified” and even then we are mostly dealing with Individuals we have no past acquaintance with. There is always some degree of risk when you arrange to meet up with someone you don’t know. We advise you to take same precaution as you would have taken when someone responds to your newspaper advertisement for tutors, teachers. The same amount of risk is applicable even for Tutors, teachers meeting up with a parent or student they don’t know. They might have a user profile with ThinkVidya, but that does not make them a genuine person. Below are the some of things you can do to ensure your safety while meeting up people from ThinkVidya. If you are a Tutor, get your Background Check done. Under this, ThinkVidya.com would verify your Address, ID and Criminal Record. Profiles with Background Check done add more trust and credibility among students/parents. If you are a Student and planning to hire a Tutor, firstly make sure that the Tutor has undergone the Background Check. If not, request us to get the Background Check done, so that you hire Trusted and Reliable Tutor for yourself or for your child.

• Telephone first

When following up an enquiry from other party (Parent or tutor), make sure you speak to the person on the phone first. Trust your instincts: If they seem suspicious for any reason, report them to ThinkVidya, tell your family and avoid contacting them back. You might also feel the need to contact the Police in extreme cases.

• Do basic research

A lot of information is available these days on the internet. Make sure to do the basic research about the person (using name, location, qualification etc) on Google, facebook, linkedin and other possible sources before deciding to meet up. If a person has a lot of friends in his/her facebook profile and has pictures with his/her family members, you have better assurance about the genuineness of that person.

• Meet in public place

Always ensure to meet up in public place for the first time unless you feel safe to meet up in your home with your family being around for any kind of emergency or support. It’s usually safest to arrange the first meeting in a public place. Trust your instincts, and if you feel uncomfortable for any reason, don't continue with the meeting.

• Tell a friend or family member

Before you meet the other person for the first time, make sure your family member or a friend knows where you are. For additional security, you may ask your family member to call you back at a prearranged time, so if it's not going well you can make an excuse and leave.

• Ask for details

If you are a Tutor, ask for parent’s occupation, company name and other basic details that you can cross verify by calling parent’s employer. Again, always follow your instincts: if you feel something is not right, its better not to proceed with their requirement.

If you are a parent, always check for Tutor, Trainer’s ThinkVidya verification status first.  You can also ask Tutor, Trainer for his/her qualification, school & year of graduation, any previous employer details. You can also ask for references from previous tutoring assignment.

Making and Receiving Payments Never give information such as bank details to a potential student or teacher. If an enquirer is insistent that you give them these details, please report them to ThinkVidya immediately. As a parent, it’s always safe to make the payments to Tutors after they have delivered their services.  Again, if an individual is insisting to pay up in advance, please report to ThinkVidya as soon as possible. You should always speak to someone first and find out more about them before any making any payments. Also as a Tutor, it’s best to ask for cash payment for the first time unless you feel comfortable receiving cheque payments since there is always a possibility of a cheque getting bounced for low funds. If a parent refuses to make the payment as agreed after you have provided your services, please report to ThinkVidya as soon as possible. We may not be able to help you get your payment but it will definitely help stop other Tutors from getting cheated. Following suggestions from this Safety Guide is essential for Home Tuitions. If you live in the cities below, check out Home Tutors on ThinkVidya: Bangalore Home Tutors on ThinkVidya: Delhi Home Tutors on ThinkVidya: Mumbai Home Tutors on ThinkVidya: Kolkata Home Tutors on ThinkVidya: Chennai