Anerkennung ausländischer Berufsqualifikationen als Kindheitspädagoge/in beantragen at the location Senatsverwaltung für Bildung, Jugend und Familie

Childhood educators research the development, upbringing and education of children. They design concepts to support children, advise parents on educational issues or take on management tasks in educational institutions.

As a childhood educator, you will work, for example, in daycare centres, all-day schools in early childhood education or in social institutions such as family centres.

As a childhood educator, you are also qualified to manage groups, projects and facilities.

The social pedagogical professions are regulated in Berlin and Germany. This means that you need state recognition to practise the profession. You can obtain this if you submit an application for an equivalence assessment of your qualification. We follow the regulations of the Social Professions Recognition Act (SozBAG) for the equivalence assessment.

Procedure:
1. if you would like to work as a childhood educator with training from another country, you must first have your qualification recognised. You can submit the application by post or online. Please complete the application and send all the necessary documents with it.
2 The competent authority will check your details and ask if anything is still missing. You will receive instructions on the further procedure and will be informed of the status of your application by e-mail.
3. if all conditions are met and all documents have been submitted, you will receive a notification and, if applicable, a fee invoice by post. If not all conditions or documents have been met, your application will be rejected. In this case, you can also read the reason for the rejection in the notification from the competent authority.

Prerequisites

• Foreign professional qualification
  
  You have obtained a comparable professional qualification abroad in the field of childhood education.
• Application for determination of equivalence
  
  You have not applied for recognition in another federal state to date.
• Personal suitability
  
  According to § 5 of the law regarding the recognition of qualifications in caring professions (SozBAG), state recognition cannot be granted if you have been found guilty of any serious offences that are associated with untrustworthiness to practise the profession. To verify this, we require an extended certificate of good conduct for presentation to an authority pursuant to § 30 a of the Central Federal Register Law (BZRG). Any previous convictions are listed on the certificate of good conduct. State recognition can be granted if the certificate of good conduct has no entries.
• German language skills
  
  To receive state recognition, your German skills must be at least at level C1 of the common European framework of reference for languages.

Documents required

• Application for determination of equivalence of a foreign professional higher education qualification
  
  You can submit your application either online or using the form.
  A signed and completed application form with a declaration that you have not previously submitted an application for equivalence in another federal state.
• Curriculum vitae
  
  An up to date curriculum vitae in tabular form in German (listing your education, training and work experience).
• Identity document
  
  Copy of your identity document or other official identification document containing a photograph.
  Your residence permit if already present, and provided that you are not a citizen of an EU state.
• Evidence of the intention to perform gainful activities in the State of Berlin
  
  • A copy of your police registration in the state of Berlin (registration with the registration office) if you already live in Berlin (see ‘Further Information’).
  • If you are not yet a resident of Berlin, you will need evidence of your intention to work in Berlin. This could be a copy of an employment contract or evidence of contact with an employer in Berlin. At the very least, we will require a statement that you intend to work in Berlin.
• Evidence of your foreign professional qualification
  
  A copy of your certificate of your professional qualification in the original language, including a detailed overview of teaching subjects and hours (diploma supplement/study book) in theory and practice.
  Please enclose a German translation of these documents.
• Certificate of marriage, if applicable
  
  A copy of your marriage certificate is only required, if it is associated with a change of name. Please enclose a German translation of these documents.
• Other evidence of work experience, if applicable
  
  Further evidence of relevant work experience and other evidence of competence, e.g. references from employers, professional training measures, courses or other seminars
  Please enclose a German translation of these documents.
• If applicable, certificate from the country of origin
  
  Evidence of your qualification to practise the profession in the country you have trained in is only required, if the profession is regulated in this country
  Please enclose a German translation of these documents.
• Documents in German
  
  • You must present your documents in German. Translations must be prepared by publicly appointed or authorised translators.
  • Translations of foreign documents that are not written in the Latin alphabet must also include a transliteration of the professional title pursuant to the ISO standard.
  • No German translation is necessary for any documents that were originally issued in English.

Forms

• Application for determination of equivalence of a foreign professional higher education qualification

Fees

196,00 Euro

Legal basis

• "Law on determination of equivalence of foreign professional qualifications in the State of Berlin (Berufsqualifikationsfeststellungsgesetz Berlin - BQFG Bln)"
• "Law on state recognition in social-educational and care professions in the State of Berlin (Sozialberufe-Anerkennungsgesetz - SozBAG)"

Average time to process request

usually 3 months, provided that all documents are available in their entirety

More information

• Information on the recognition of foreign socio-educational qualifications (Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family)
• Registration in the state of Berlin / Registration of a flat (service)

Notes on responsibility

You can only submit your request for determination of equivalence in Berlin, if you intend to work in this regulated profession in Berlin in the future.

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