Safeguarding international schools in Mexico: country guide

The laws reviewed for this guide set up no separate regulator for international schools. A private school answers to the education authority that approved it, which for early years to secondary schools is the state authority (Article 114). Recognition for other studies can come from the federal Ministry of Education or a state (Article 115).

The General Education Law of 2019 says early years, pre-school, primary and secondary schools need express authorisation from the State. Other studies can get official recognition of validity of studies, known in Spanish as RVOE (Article 146). Each approval covers a named study plan.

The authority must carry out oversight checks at least once a year (Article 151). A school without recognition must say so in its papers and adverts (Article 150). Ask your Head which approval your school holds.

A school website in Mexico can show the Mexican national programme beside international ones. It may list the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma and accreditation by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC).

The UK government's British Schools Overseas (BSO) list includes one school in Mexico. Check which framework yours follows, because its child protection standards sit on top of Mexican law.

The base is the General Law on the Rights of Children and Adolescents (LGDNNA), published on 4 December 2014. A child is under 12 and an adolescent is 12 to under 18 (Article 5).

Article 47 tells authorities to prevent, address and punish neglect, abuse, sexual exploitation and trafficking of children. Article 57 asks them to create a team that handles cases of mistreatment in schools, and to make sure protocols exist for bullying and school violence.

Article 59 asks authorities and schools to work together against bullying. It also calls for sanctions on staff who commit, allow or fail to report school violence. Article 73 of the General Education Law adds that staff must be trained to protect and care for students, and that discipline must suit the child's age.

The article numbers here come from the Official Gazette texts as first published, plus the 2021 amendment. Later changes may have reworded them, so ask counsel for the consolidated text.

Yes. Article 12 of the LGDNNA makes it the duty of every person who knows that a child suffers a violation of their rights to tell the competent authorities at once. Article 73 of the General Education Law says the same for teachers, other school staff and education authorities who learn of a crime against a student.

Article 222 of the National Code of Criminal Procedure covers crimes. Anyone who knows of a probable crime must report it to the prosecutor's office (Ministerio Público). In an urgent case, any police officer will do, and a person with a legal duty to report who does not can face penalties.

The body that acts for children is the child protection office, the Procuraduría de Protección. The federal one sits inside the national family agency, DIF (Desarrollo Integral de la Familia), and each state must have its own (Article 121). It reports crimes to the prosecutor and can ask for urgent protection measures (Article 122).

Which office takes a report first can depend on the case and the state, and state laws set the penalties (Article 146). Ask counsel to name the right office for your school. For the wider picture, read mandatory reporting laws for international schools.

Immediate danger: call 911 first. Then follow your school's child protection procedure and tell your designated safeguarding lead (DSL) the same day. Keep these numbers where staff can find them.

Child Helpline International's directory had no Mexican helpline when checked on 19 October 2026, so this guide names none.

• 911: the emergency number. UNICEF Mexico tells people to call it when a child is in imminent danger.
• 089: anonymous crime reports, open 24 hours a day, listed on the same UNICEF Mexico page.
• 800 55 33 000: a national line and chat against trafficking, run by the Consejo Ciudadano (a citizens council). In its campaign against child sexual exploitation, UNICEF Mexico lists it for worries about a child who is not in immediate danger.
• Your state Procuraduría de Protección: look up the contact details and add them to your procedure.
• Your DSL: tell them the same day, every time.

Many international school policies have staff pass concerns to the DSL. Mexican law also names the outside bodies and puts a reporting duty on every person. Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) has no legal force in Mexico.

One procedure can serve both. Staff tell the DSL at once, and the DSL or Head reports to the right Mexican authority and records it. For the common frameworks, read the ITFCP standards explained.

Say in the policy that telling the DSL does not end a person's own legal duty. That matters because Article 12 speaks of every person.

• Threshold: Article 12 covers any violation of a child's rights, which is wider than a crime. Staff should pass on the first concern.
• Bullying: Article 57 asks for protocols on bullying and school violence, and Article 74 of the education law asks education authorities to issue guidelines for them. Check what yours expects.

Private schools fall under the Federal Law on the Protection of Personal Data Held by Private Parties. A new law was published on 20 March 2025 and repealed the 2010 law. The regulator is the Secretaría Anticorrupción y Buen Gobierno, the anti-corruption and good government ministry (Articles 2 and 39).

Most processing needs consent, and implied consent is usually valid once people have seen the privacy notice (Article 7). Sensitive data, such as health, religious beliefs and sexual preference, needs express written consent (Articles 2 and 8). Safeguarding files often hold sensitive data.

Article 9 lists cases where consent is not needed. They include a legal rule that requires the processing, duties from a legal relationship, an emergency and an order from an authority. Ask counsel which ground fits each record.

Article 35 says the privacy notice must go with any data you pass to others. Article 36 lists transfers allowed without consent, such as those the law requires or those inside one company group. The law text reviewed for this guide has no rule that data must stay in Mexico, so ask counsel before you choose a supplier.

Article 19 says people must be told at once about a security breach that significantly affects their property or moral rights.

Expect Mexican authorities to work in Spanish. Many support staff, such as drivers, guards and cleaners, work in Spanish too, so English-only training leaves them out. Read why translation alone is not enough.

The laws use protección (protection) and violencia escolar (school violence), and they speak of niñas, niños y adolescentes. UNICEF Mexico uses salvaguarda for safeguarding in its guide for businesses. Use both words in Spanish materials.

A 2021 amendment bans corporal and humiliating punishment by anyone who deals with children (LGDNNA, Article 105). Article 47 defines corporal punishment. It lists hitting, pushing, pinching, biting, pulling hair or ears, forcing uncomfortable positions, and any act meant to cause pain or discomfort, even slight.

Humiliating punishment means offensive, belittling or ridiculing treatment (Article 47). End Corporal Punishment lists corporal punishment as unlawful in schools, in a report last updated in September 2024. Put these definitions in your code of conduct.

Safer hiring needs a criminal record check, but this guide could not confirm which body issues the Mexican certificate or what it covers. Ask local counsel to confirm, and ask staff who lived abroad for certificates from those countries too. Treat each certificate as one check in your safer recruitment process.

Work through this list in your first weeks. Then ask local counsel and the relevant authority to confirm each point, because this guide is general information, not legal advice. Write each answer down with its date and who gave it.

• Find out which authority approved your school and which state rules apply to it.
• Put 911, 089 and your state Procuraduría de Protección on one page for staff.
• Ask counsel who reports to the Procuraduría or the prosecutor, how fast, and in which language.
• Write in the policy that telling the DSL does not end anyone's own legal duty.
• Ask each supplier where safeguarding data is stored and which transfer ground covers it.
• Ban corporal and humiliating punishment in the code of conduct, using the law's definitions.
• Book Spanish training for support staff and keep dated records.