Policy
Safeguarding
The Million Classics Programme works with secondary school students. Their safety, dignity and privacy come before everything else we do.
The Programme operates a written safeguarding policy that applies to every Programme Cycle, every participating school, and every person who works on the Programme — whether employed by Ekenua & Co. Limited, by Academy Press PLC, or engaged as a delivery partner, coordinator or content producer. The commitments below are the standards we hold ourselves to publicly; the full policy governs how we apply them in practice.
Consent comes first
No identifiable image, name or voice of any student is ever captured, used or published without a signed consent form from that student's parent or guardian held on file beforehand. This applies to every photograph, every piece of video, every published essay, and every student name or quotation that appears in any Programme material, report, or communication — and to anything shared with sponsors, the media, or on this website.
Consent is recorded in a consent register maintained by the Programme's Local Programme Lead. Where consent has not been given, or is withdrawn, the student takes part in the Programme fully — consent governs only whether they appear in content, never whether they participate.
Everyone who works on the Programme is briefed
Every person involved in delivering the Programme — coordinators, content producers, and partner staff — is briefed on our safeguarding requirements before they are deployed to any school. Our delivery partners are contractually bound to the same safeguarding standard, including the consent rule above, and are accountable to the Programme for meeting it.
Students' information is protected
The Programme complies with applicable data-protection law, including the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023. Sponsors are never given access to identifiable information about individual students beyond the limited content a parent or guardian has specifically consented to make public. A sponsor funds a Programme Cycle; a sponsor does not receive a list of children.
Working with schools and authorities
The Programme operates with the cooperation of the Lagos State Ministry of Education and the relevant school authorities. Within each school, designated teachers and coordinators are the day-to-day point of contact for students, and the Programme's discussion and writing activities take place within the school's own structures and supervision.
Raising a concern
If you have a safeguarding concern about the Programme, we want to hear it. Please contact us at admin@millionclassics.org and your concern will be handled promptly and confidentially by the Programme's safeguarding lead.
The Million Classics Programme is delivered by Ekenua & Co. Limited in partnership with Academy Press PLC, under a Cooperation Agreement and the oversight of a joint Steering Committee. Our safeguarding policy is reviewed at the start of each Programme Cycle.