The lawyer gave advice on choosing and buying online courses.

In the context of high demand for online educational products, those for whom the desire to sell prevails over the desire to teach have also become more active. Users of online platforms should carefully choose the place of their future studies, said lawyer, human rights activist, and education expert Anton Ivlev. He told Izvestia what you need to pay attention to when buying online school services.

So, the author of the course must necessarily demonstrate his expertise and achievements in the field in which he positions himself as a specialist. You should find out if the speaker has the appropriate education. The reputation of the online school itself is also important. It is important to pay attention to the license and trademark posted on the website.

At the same time, the expert noted that the educational program is the main document that the student focuses on when choosing a course and in the process of completing it. The content and order of modules and lessons, the schedule of assignments, the procedure for conducting attestations — all this must be included in the educational program, which, in turn, must be publicly available on the school's website. As the lawyer explained, if there is no program, then this is a reason to think about the product that you plan to buy, because it is according to the educational program that you can determine how high-quality the services provided will be.

At the same time, the existence of a contract is the main proof that the school operates within the legal framework.

"Many online schools, especially when it comes to the personal mentoring of an expert, operate without a contract. Today, this is a real scourge of online education. Entrepreneurs often accept payment for their services by transfer to a card, and for the user this should be a black mark, indicating that it is better not to work with such a school. In case of questions or complaints, it will be extremely difficult for the client to exercise his right to a refund," Ivlev said.

You should definitely read the contract, and pay attention to the refund clauses. If the document states that the refund is not provided for or involves a large number of conditions that obviously complicate the process, then this indicates that the school is behaving unfairly towards the student, the expert said.

According to him, the client has the right to initiate termination of the contract for various reasons. This may be dissatisfaction with the course and violation of the terms of the contract by the school, as well as personal reasons: lack of time, changing areas of interest, etc. Accordingly, the refund will also be carried out in different ways.

"The primary criterion for assessing the quality of the service provided is the educational program. If it is implemented with violations — the expert does not get feedback and does not check homework, the terms of study are shifted, the number of lessons or modules is changing — then the student has the right to declare the termination of the contract due to poor—quality provision of services," the lawyer emphasized.

Poor-quality provision of services implies that a student can claim either a reduction in tuition fees or a refund. A school that violates the terms of the contract may be subject to penalties in the form of a penalty or compensation for moral damage. An additional fine may be imposed if the student has to go to court to defend their rights.

If the educational program is implemented without violations, but the student wants to stop studying for some reason of his own, he can also declare the termination of the contract. In this case, the refund procedure must also be specified in the online school's documents.

The expert advised not to pay attention to loud headlines and emotional advertising of courses and to think carefully about your decision before buying.

A common promise of online courses is practice and internship. Ivlev classifies this item as clickable headlines and recommends reading not only advertising banners, but also the contract.

"Unfortunately, the probability that a student will be given a real internship as part of an educational product tends to zero. It is important to understand that an online school will not become a customer of any services for its student and it is unlikely that it will be able to guarantee a client who is ready to immediately conclude a contract with a newly minted specialist. If something like this is stated on the selling site, then you need to look at the contract. Most likely, there will be nothing like that in it," the expert explained.

If the internship clause is written in the contract or there is a direct promise on the website, but in fact it was not, then this is an example of a poorly provided service with all the legal consequences provided by law.

Earlier, on April 2, it was reported that 59% of Russians surveyed were faced with offers to take paid courses or trainings guaranteeing subsequent employment, which never came. This is stated in the results of a study of the <url> service.