Checks before hiring teachers in Colombia: background and challenges

Background: What to consult before linking to a teacher

A music teacher usually works under conditions of great closeness: individual, at home, virtual or with children's groups. That's why, before linking someone, his or her history should be reviewed at official sources. These consultations are made online and require permission from the candidate:

Save the date of each consultation with the result. A certificate reflects the person's situation at that time and it's not a guarantee about the future. That's why it's best to be complemented with references, a code of conduct and monitoring.

What to do if a register appears

If the inskills consultation shows that the candidate is disabled, it cannot be linked to an office involving direct and regular contact with minors. If another type of background appears, discuss his or her relationship with his or her office with his or her legal advisor before deciding, and manage that information with reserve.

Inskills Consultation: Act 1918 of 2018 and Decree 753 of 2019

The Act 1918 of 2018 lays down inskills for persons convicted of sexual offences against minors to have jobs, jobs or professions involving direct and regular contact with minors, including educational, cultural and artistic fields.

The Decree No. 753 of 2019 Regulation of consultation: public and private authorities may consult the register during the interviewing procedure, with prior, expressed and written permission of the candidate and have to be held on the person's living paper or file.

How to conduct the consultation, step by step

1. Requests the candidate to sign his prior permission, expressed and written to check his or her inskills register, before applying.
2. Enter the NIT Inskills Consultation portal and identify your entity with your NIT.
3. Check with the candidate's identification details.
4. Save the result with permission on the life sheet or file.
5. It decides on a result-level basis and indicates that the consultation was undertaken prior to the linkage.

Act No. 2375 of 2024: tighter rules

The Act No. 2375 of 2024 It strengthened these rules: it expands and lays down the jobs filled, including those providing services to children and adolescents in cultural, recreational and sports areas and lays down fines for those entities that do not conduct checks or that hire disabled persons.

For an academy of music, a cultural program or a college with an additional day, the practical conclusion is clear: at jobs with contact with minors, inskills consultation isn't an optional step. Check with your advisor what jobs your institution's office are filled with.

The obligation to check is with the person who contracts

Even if a third party helps you to search and presselect candidates, the legal obligation to verify lies with the entity that contracts. Your institution should conduct its own inskills consultation with the permission of the candidate and NIT of the entity and preserve the evidence.

In A medio tono We evaluate every teacher in the musical, pedagogical and human before his first class and [selection to the custom].](/academias/seleccion-de-profesores) We have put up candidates and have been leaked. Even so, your institution does the consultation for your association: no outside ally can accept them for you.

• He agrees with his writing about what his ally considers and what his institution verifies.
• Apply the same procedure to each new link with contact with minors, be it full time, for hours or a replacement, and confirm with your counsellor the scope with each case.
• Designates an internal person with an internal responsibility for verifications and an authorisation file.

Data protection for candidates: Act No. 1581 of 2012

The verifications involve processing personal data, some of them highly sensitive. Act No. 1581 of 2012 (data beholds) lays down the basic rules:

• Prior, expressed and informed authorisation to discuss the candidate's data, from the time you get his or her life sheet.
• The clear aim: explain how you will use the data, for example, selection for a dedicated charge and associated verifications.
• Storage with authorisation: If you want to save your living paper after the process, for future jobs, you need permission for that.
• Restricted access: only those who make the decision have to see the results of the checks.

You can include data processing authorization in your posting format and order an intermittent and written inskills consultation. Ask your consultant to review both of them.

Labour references and monitoring of certificates

Certificates tell you what doesn't appear in someone's history and references tell you how they work. He asks for at least two job references and, if his office is with children, tries to get at least one from a previous job with children.

What to ask about references

• What office and how long did she work with you?
• What age and how old are they: individual classes, groups or assemblies?
• What was his relationship with his students and families?
• Do you have an agreement and schedule?
• Can you hire him back?

Filling gaps

If there are periods with no activity on his or her life sheet, he or she asks his or her candidate to explain them. It's not about punishing a pause that can have many legitimate reasons but about having a complete and consistent path.

Titles and certificates

Check with the institution that issue them with the titles and certificates that are relevant to the office. A title does not say how someone teaches but if it's a requirement of the office, it should be real. To evaluate the pedagogical part, use a class sample with heading.

Code of conduct for class 1: 1 and virtual with minor

The verifications are a photo of the moment they are made. What protects the students at day after day is a clear code of conduct, that every teacher knows and firma at his entrance. Here are some points that should be missed:

• Institutional channels: communication with minor students goes through an institution's channels or includes the family, with no private chats.
• Visible spaces: Classes with an open door or with visibility and at home at a common place of the house.
• Virtual classes: at institutional platforms with a common space and with family knowledge.
• Social networks: Do not track or add minor students from personal accounts, or publish photos or videos of them without family permission.
• Responsible adult: in home classes with young children, a responsible adult should be present at home.
• Physical contact: To correct the posture, prioritize the demonstration and if you have to play, explain and ask permission.
• Reporting path: a clear channel for students, families and teachers to report anything that concerns them.

Checklist of checks before hiring

Use this list with every final candidate, before the link:

1. Authorisation for processing of personal data (Act 1581 of 2012) signed by the candidate.
2. Prior authorization, expressed and written to check the inskills register.
3. Consultation of inskills made by your institution at the National Police portal with the NIT of the entity.
4. Judicial background (National Police).
5. Disciplinary background (Procuraduría General de la Nación).
6. Tax background (Comptroller General).
7. National Register of Corrective Measures (NNCMN).
8. At least two verified job references, ideally with at least one previous job with children.
9. Expand with an explain path.
10. Certificates and relevant certificates verified.
11. Code of conduct signed.
12. Authorisation and results archived in the file with restricted access.

The verifications are the last stage of a process that starts far earlier. If you are arming or adjusting yours, check how to hire music teachers step by step or to know [services for academies and schools]](/academias).

Frequently asked questions