Attending nursery and school

Children from the age of one can attend a daycare center where they can play with other children and learn the German language through play. However, a few steps are necessary for this:

• First, you must apply for a daycare voucher (Kita-Gutschein). You can fill out the corresponding form online or download it here (German, PDF). In both cases, you send the completed form by mail to the Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) of the district in which you live.
• You will then receive your daycare voucher by mail. The voucher states when and for how many hours per day your child may attend a daycare center.
• Now you can search for a daycare place for your child at www.kita-navigator.berlin.de.
• Once you have found a free daycare place, contact the daycare center directly to redeem your voucher. To do this, you need to conclude a contract with the daycare center.

If you need help filling out the documents or applying for the daycare voucher, contact the youth welfare office in your district.

• Here you can download all information on daycare center attendance (PDF)

The state of Berlin would like to give as many children from Ukraine as possible the opportunity to attend a daycare center. In order for these children to be cared for as well as possible, the facilities need professionals with a good knowledge of Ukrainian and Russian.

This questionnaire enables Ukrainians to express their interest in working in daycare centers and other educational institutions and at the same time provide information about their professional qualifications and language skills: To the questionnaire.

After arriving at the Arrival Centre Tegel, children and adolescents can first attend the Welcome School there. They will attend school lessons there until they are assigned a spot in a regular school. The Welcome School in Tegel is a branch of the Nelson Mandela School in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and has a standard classroom set-up including WiFi access. For physical education and movement, the Arrival Centre cooperates with the sport school in Olympiapark¬ – the Poelchau School.

Children from the age of six are generally required to attend school in Germany. School attendance is free of charge. As a rule, children and adolescents who are refugees first attend a welcome class where they learn the German language. If your child is under 16 years of age, you should contact the coordination office of the district in which you live:

The clearing office for vocational schools is responsible for young people over the age of 16 (Klärungsstelle für berufliche Schulen: klaerungsstellebbs@senbjf.berlin.de, Tel. 030 90249 1382 or 030 90249 1380, Frankfurter Allee 73c, 10247 Berlin). Bring identification documents and any school report cards you may have. The coordination office will determine your child’s language skills and arrange for a school medical examination. The coordination office will then inform you which school your child can attend. Contact the school directly to register your child there. Young people who are about to graduate from school can use the online services of their home school.

• Here you can download all information about school attendance (PDF)

Children and young people between the ages of 15 and 25 who have questions about their professional future can take advantage of the free counselling services offered by the Berlin Youth Employment Agency (Jugendberufsagentur). The counselling covers the topics of training, school, studies and career start.

Due to the dramatic events in the Ukraine and refugees leaving the country, numerous Ukrainian pupils are arriving in Berlin in urgent need of support. The state of Berlin is recruiting teachers with German and Ukrainian language skills for welcome classes, for lessons in Ukrainian and in German. Further information.