Terms of Service

Last updated: . Please read these terms carefully before using AfriTutors.

1. About AfriTutors

AfriTutors ("the Platform", "we", "us") is an online marketplace that connects students and their parents/guardians with independent teachers for tutoring. AfriTutors facilitates introductions and communication. Teachers are independent professionals, not employees of AfriTutors.

2. Eligibility and accounts

• You must provide accurate, current and complete information when registering.
• Where a user is under 18, a parent or guardian may create and manage the account on their behalf and is responsible for it.
• You are responsible for keeping your password and account secure, and for all activity under your account.
• We may suspend or terminate accounts that breach these Terms, misrepresent identity, or endanger other users.

3. Teacher verification and document sharing

To protect students, teachers who wish to be listed must submit to verification. By submitting an application you expressly agree that:

• You grant the AfriTutors verification team permission to receive, review, store and process the private documents you upload, including your university certificate, registration certificate or licence, national ID or passport, and any other document requested.
• You confirm that all documents and information you provide are genuine and belong to you. Submitting forged or misleading documents is a serious breach and may be reported to the relevant authorities.
• Your documents are used solely for verification, fraud prevention and legal compliance. They are stored securely and are accessible only to authorised members of the verification team.
• Verification does not guarantee approval. Approval also requires a valid subscription payment.

4. Subscriptions and payments

• Students pay a subscription of 5,000 shillings in Uganda, or the equivalent of 3 US dollars outside Uganda.
• Teachers pay a subscription of 10,000 shillings in Uganda, or the equivalent of 5 US dollars outside Uganda.
• Payments may be made by MTN Mobile Money or Airtel Money. We do not accept cards, bank transfers or PayPal. Prices and available methods may change.
• Messaging features unlock only after payment and, where required, administrator approval. Fees are generally non-refundable once the service is activated, except where required by law.

5. Lesson bookings and the booking fee

• Tutors may publish a teaching rate. Students may then request a lesson at that rate, for a chosen lesson length. AfriTutors records the agreed lesson price and the booking fee on the booking at the moment it is created; a later change to a tutor's rate does not change an existing booking.
• AfriTutors does not collect, hold or transfer the money a student pays for a lesson. The student pays the tutor directly, to the tutor's own mobile money number, which is shown to that student only after the tutor has accepted the request. Payments between users are strictly between those users, and AfriTutors cannot refund money it never received.
• AfriTutors charges a separate booking fee to its own merchant account — 1,000 shillings in Uganda or the equivalent of 0.50 US dollars elsewhere — for recording and administering the lesson. The booking fee is not a commission on, or a deduction from, the tutor's rate.
• Tutors are solely responsible for the accuracy of their published rate and for declaring to the relevant authorities any income they earn through the Platform.
• Either party may report a problem with a lesson. An administrator will review the records and may mark the lesson completed, cancelled, or record a no-show, and will notify both parties. Ratings submitted by students appear on the tutor's public profile.

6. Acceptable use

You agree not to: harass, defraud, impersonate or harm other users; upload unlawful, harmful or infringing content; attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Platform, other accounts or our systems; scrape, overload or reverse-engineer the Platform; or use messaging to send spam or share content that is illegal or unsafe.

7. Privacy and data protection

We collect and process personal data — including your name, contact details, country, and, for teachers, the verification documents you upload — to operate the Platform, verify identities, process payments and keep users safe. We apply technical safeguards including password hashing, encryption of sensitive fields, restricted access and audit logging. We do not sell your personal data. You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of your data, subject to our legal and record-keeping obligations.

8. Content and attachments

You retain ownership of the content and documents you send. By sharing content you grant AfriTutors a limited licence to store and transmit it as needed to provide the service. You must have the right to share any document you upload. Attachments are transmitted securely and are accessible only to the sender and recipient.

9. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

The Platform is provided on an "as is" basis. While we verify teachers thoroughly, AfriTutors does not guarantee a particular academic outcome. To the maximum extent permitted by law, AfriTutors is not liable for indirect or consequential losses arising from tutoring arrangements, nor for the acts or omissions of independent teachers or students. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

10. Intellectual property

The AfriTutors name, logo, design and software are our property or that of our licensors. You may not copy or reuse them without permission.

11. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. Material changes will be communicated on the Platform. Continued use after a change constitutes acceptance.

12. Contact

Questions about these Terms: afritutor01@gmail.com, +256 758 527383, Mbale City, Uganda.