Requirements for appointment

Managers of day-care centres for children

Länder rules on the requirements for appointment as a manager of a day-care centre for children differ. Usually they require at least a further qualification in a profession (Fachschulabschluss), corresponding practical experience and sometimes also specific continuing training. In some cases an academic degree is also a prerequisite. Staff with a supervisory function in pre-school institutions often have an academic degree from an institution of higher education, e.g. as a Sozialpädagoge (graduate youth and community worker).

School heads

As a rule, the qualifications required for school heads are those of teachers at the relevant school level, with a teaching qualification plus several years of teaching and management experience.

Conditions of service

Trained pedagogical staff can be partly or fully exempted from educational group work to carry out management duties in day-care centres for children. This exemption is subject to different regulations in the Länder. In five Länder there are no specifications for time allocations. The remaining Länder specify different criteria for the provision of time allocations that are oriented on the number of children being cared for, the number of staff or the number of groups.

The responsibilities of the head teacher (Schulleiter) comprise staff management, administration, the school budget as well as the evaluation of teachers, school public relations and the development of a school-specific profile (for more detailed information on the responsibilities of the head teacher, see the section on administration and governance at local level. For performing the duties of a head teacher, the classroom hours of the head are reduced.

The salaries of head teachers and deputy head teachers in principle depend on the number of pupils at the school. In exceptional cases, other aspects such as the composition of the student body, a special pedagogical concept or the supra-regional importance of the institution may justify a higher salary. As a rule, the salary groups are as follows for schools with more than 360 pupils: