PoSH training for education industry
What is PoSH Training for Education and Teaching Industry?
PoSH training is mandatory for the education and learning sector not only to comply with the requirements of the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Act, 2013, but also to build a workplace culture rooted in safety, dignity, and mutual respect.
Education industry refers to schools, universities, coaching institutes, training institutes as well as research institutes.
The education sector consists of large number of students spread across different and locations. Power dynamics play an important role here due to the relationship between faculty and students. Students are under lot of pressure to secure good marks in exams and crack competitive exams. It becomes critical to training all students and employees about what constitutes sexual harassment and how to create a safe working environment.
Power imbalance also exist between junior and senior faculty; research guide and research scholar. Such situations may lead to cases of sexual harassment and female students, faculty and research scholars must be apprised on how to navigate through these situations.
Contractual employees, who are an integral part of the workforce, must also be educated on expected standards of workplace behaviour and the organisation’s zero-tolerance approach towards sexual harassment.
UGC guidelines also talks about sexual harassment and need to form an internal committee to address cases of sexual harassment. As per UGC guidelines, any women faculty or student or staff can file complaints of sexual harassment. This makes their policy truly inclusive.
Equally important is the capability building of Internal Committee (IC) members. They must have a thorough understanding of their roles, responsibilities, and legal obligations under the Act. Specialised training equips them to handle complaints sensitively, conduct inquiries in a fair and unbiased manner, uphold the principles of natural justice, and ensure compliance with statutory timelines and procedures.
A robust PoSH framework goes beyond legal compliance. It helps organisations minimise risk, strengthen employee confidence in the grievance redressal process, improve engagement, and enhance the organisation’s reputation as a safe and inclusive place to work.
Why the Education Sector and Academia Need Specialized PoSH Training
- UGC guidelines mandate the formation of an internal committee to address cases of sexual harassment. They mandate a gender-neutral posh policy to prevent sexual harassment.
- Frequent and close interaction between students and faculty Eg The IIT professor case (2023) where Professor Arun Iyer was found guilty of sexually harassing a student
- High level of interaction between research guides and research schools Eg A research guide sending a late-night lewd message to research students
- Regular interaction between students and administrative staff
- Senior and junior faculty often work together to coordinate teaching, research, conferences, grade approvals, and examinations. Power imbalances may lead to cases of sexual harassment. Example: A senior faculty member frequently makes remarks on the appearance of junior female faculty as asking her to meet outside the campus
- Power dynamics between research guide and research scholar – Research scholars have a huge influence on thesis approvals, granting funds and completion of the degree for research scholars. This power imbalance may lead to cases of sexual harassment. e.g., A research guide asking a research scholar for sexual favours to give approval to the thesis.
- Internship and Placement – Interns and freshers are generally major victims of sexual harassment. Most students are naïve and not aware of corporate dynamics. There is also an element of power imbalances between team leaders and interns.
- Campus Scenarios – Frequent interaction among students in classes, college fests, conference may lead to cases of sexual harassment.e.g., A male student proposing a female student, repeatedly asking her to go out on a date
- Frequent school trips, university field visits, leading to cases of sexual harassment
Specialized PoSH training helps the learning sector and educational institutes
- What is covered in the scope of Sexual Harassment
- Examples of sexual harassment
- Virtual harassment & how it impacts the victim
- Understanding the do's and don’ts of appropriate behaviour
- What to do if you are facing sexual harassment?
- How to file complaints of sexual harassment?
- Understanding Professional Boundaries at Workplace
- Foster a safe working environment
- Improve student and faculty confidence
- Strengthen reporting mechanisms
- Protect organization’s (school, college, university, coaching institute )reputation
- Support women employees and students across locations
- Support women employees and students across locations
- Ensure legal requirements are met
Organizations that invest in regular awareness training often experience better students and employee trust, stronger workplace culture, and lower compliance risks.
Common PoSH Challenges in the Educational and Knowledge Industry
Schools, universities, and coaching institutes faces several challenges. Some of the most common situations include:
1. Power Imbalance
Students have to continuously interact with faculties and non-teaching staff. They are dependent on the faculties and college staff for completing their projects, securing good marks in their exams. Research scholars are dependent on their research guides for thesis approval and completion of their degrees. Such scenarios may lead to cases of sexual harassment. Eg A male faculty pressuring a female student to go on a date with him in lieu of giving good marks in projects.
2. Students are not employees
Students don’t have adequate knowledge of PoSH Act; the number of students is large and it becomes tough to train all the students on their rights under PoSH Act 2013. Students can file complaints even if they are not employees. They need to be trained thoroughly on what constitutes sexual harassment. Lack of awareness of sexual misconduct may lead to exploitation of women students and employees. Many such cases have been reported in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Gujarat.
3. High Student–Faculty interaction
Students regularly communicate with the faculty for their course curriculum, assignments, conferences, competitions, examination, research papers, etc. since faculty assumes role of the mentor for students, there is a high possibility of cases of sexual harassment coming up Eg Faculty threatening a female student that he will fail her in the examination if she doesn’t give him sexual favours.
4. Power gap between Senior and junior employees (teaching and non-teaching staff)
Educational institutes often function in a bureaucratic manner, leading to power imbalance between senior and junior employees. This may led to sexual exploitation of female staff.
5. Fear of Retaliation
Students fear losing marks, projects and delayed project approval if they raise their voice against incidents of sexual harassment and often suffer in silence. They fear character assassination & social pressure from their families and other faculties. In India, we often blame the victim instead of questioning the sexual perpetrator.
6. Lack of Effective IC
In most states, either ICCS are not formed or they exist on paper only. No training is given to IC members to how to handle cases of anti-sexual harassment.
7. Virtual Harassment
Students and faculty frequently communicate over social media such as WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Facebook . e.g., Unwanted late-night message, sending inappropriate reels and emojis may lead to cases of sexual harassment coming up.
8. ICC Training and expertise
Most of the IC members are not legally equipped to address case of sexual harassment in a prompt, neutral and legally compliant manner.
Our PoSH Training Programs for the Knowledge and Education Industry
We offer tailored Anti-sexual harassment training and PoSH Compliance solutions designed specifically for schools and universities. This training specifically addresses navigating inappropriate behaviour between students and between students and faculty. It addresses the power imbalance between students and staff (teaching and non-teaching staff)
What makes our training program different: -
- Program tailored for students and teachers
- Specifically designed for high-pressure, customer focussed and compliance driven environment.
- It includes virtual harassment in detail and its various examples such as discussion on WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook etc.
- Availability of both male and female faculty for training employees
- Flexibility to teach sexual harassment in local languages such as Gujrati in Gujrat, Hindi in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, Kannada in Karnataka, Marathi in Maharashtra, Telugu in Hyderabad etc.
- Highly trained faculty who discuss real life scenarios to reinforce the learnings
- Professional boundaries between teachers and students
- Panel of trainers to ensure training can be provided PAN India
- Interactive Activities to reinforce learnings
- Compliance to UGC Guidelines
Awareness Programs for Schools
Interactive sessions helping employees understand:
- What constitutes sexual harassment
- Difference between real, misunderstood and false complaint
- Workplace behaviour expectations
- How to recognize incidents of sexual harassment
- Reporting mechanisms
- Grey area cases
- How to file complaints
- Rights and responsibilities
- Discussion of real-life scenarios
- Punishment under PoSH Act
- How to create a safe working environment for students and teachers
- Create a culture of zero tolerance towards sexual harassment
Training Programs for Universities
Explaining sexual harassment in simple and vernacular language
- Difference between real, misunderstood and false complaint
- Workplace behaviour expectations
- Understanding Professional boundaries between students and staff (teaching and non-teaching)
- Navigating power dynamics between senior and junior faculty
- How power can be misused by Professors and Research Guides
- How to recognize incidents of sexual harassment
- Reporting mechanisms
- Grey area cases
- How to file complaints
- Rights and responsibilities
- Discussion of real-life scenarios Eg Faculty making lewd remarks
- Punishment under PoSH Act
- How to create a safe working environment for students and teachers
- Create a culture of zero tolerance towards sexual harassment
- Respectful communication
Training Program for Coaching Centres
- Understanding sexual harassment
- Dos and Don’ts for one-to-one mentoring centre
- Ensuring safe working environment in small classroom settings
- Things to be taken care of while interacting with students and female faculty
- How virtual and digital harassment happens
- Protocols of communication of marketing and team with students and parents
- Creative a culture of safety and inclusion
Principal and Manager Training
Focused training for the supervisor covering:
- Do’s and Don’ts for interacting with women colleagues
- How to address complaints of sexual harassment
- Prevention strategies
- Complaint handling
- Escalation procedures
- Leadership responsibilities
- Building a culture of trust and safe working environment
Internal Committee (IC) Training
Comprehensive training for IC members, including:
- Legal framework
- Understanding the difference between true, misunderstood, and false complaints
- Inquiry procedures
- Timelines to be followed under PoSH Act
- What are interim measures?
- What is conciliation? Is it needed?
- Documentation
- Report writing
- Natural justice principles
- Grievance Handing
- How to ensure justice is delivered?
Train the Trainer Program for the PoSH Act
- Nuances of PoSH Act
- Preamble of PoSH Act
- Compliances covered under PoSH ACT 2013
- SHe Box Registration
- Role of IC members
- Enquiry details and Protocols
- Timelines to be followed
- How to conduct Posh Training?
- Discussion of real-life cases
- Video Based Discussion
- Training conducted in small cohorts to ensure active participation and learning
- Dedicated Newsletter and WhatsApp group to reinforce learning
- Continuous support to certified participants to empanel with Proud HR services as PoSH Consultants
- ISO certified PoSH Train the Trainer certificate to be provided on successful completion of the program
External Member Support
- Experienced support for organizations requiring qualified external IC members.
- Handling more than 1200 cases of anti- sexual harassment
- 18 years of experience in PoSH consulting and Compliance
PoSH Compliance Audits
Review of policies, procedures, documentation, and compliance readiness.
Industries and Organizations We Have Supported
We are associated with Nalanda University, Goa Institute of Management, Parul University, MS University ,DDIT University and many more.
Our experience includes supporting organizations across:
- Pharmaceuticals
- Mining
- Banking and NBFC (Non-Banking Financial Services Company)
- Software Industries
- Manufacturing
- Healthcare
- Engineering
- Education
- Corporate Services
With experience training thousands of employees and working with leading organizations, we understand the compliance expectations and workplace realities faced by modern businesses.
Benefits of PoSH Training for Schools, Universities and Coaching Centres
Effective PoSH training provides long-term value beyond compliance.
Benefits include:
- Enhanced understanding of appropriate and inappropriate behaviour
- Ensures students feel safe and confidently participate in academic activities
- Discussion of real-life cases
- PoSH training in vernacular language
- Avoid heavy penalties
- Avoid exploitation of female students and staff
- Improved workplace culture
- Increased employee confidence
- Understanding Grey Area Cases
- Better awareness of acceptable workplace conduct
- Reduced compliance risks
- Stronger organization reputation
- Improved grievance handling
- Improves productivity and employee morale
- Reduces attrition
- Enhanced leadership accountability
- Better protection for employees and organizations
- Empowerment of women employees and students
- Prevent incidents that can tarnish the organization’s brand name
- Enables incidents to address issues of sexual harassment in a neutral and legally compliant manner
A proactive approach helps organizations create safer, more respectful workplaces while meeting legal requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
1.Do Schools, Universities and Coaching Institutes need PoSH raining ?
2,Who should attend PoSH training in schools, colleges and coaching institutes ?
3.How often should PoSH training be conducted?
4.What is ICC training?
5.Can PoSH training be conducted online?
6.Do gig workers require PoSH training?
7.Is training required for employees working from home?
8.What topics are covered during PoSH training?
9.Can organizations appoint an external IC member?
10.Is training required for students attending online classes?
