Coming to Germany to work in early years education – new opportunities for skilled workers

When Sofia Mbango stepped out of the aeroplane in early 2024, she was met with snow and freezing temperatures. True, she had been warned that it can get cold here in winter, but the young woman never expected having to get warmer clothing out of her suitcase while she was still at the airport.

Sofia Mbango is 25 and comes from Namibia, where she achieved a degree in Pre and Junior Primary Education. Since February 2024 she has been working as an early-years teacher in a kindergarten in Bad Homberg, a small town near Frankfurt in Hesse with a population of around 56,000. “Kindergarten in Namibia is completely different to Germany,” says Sofia Mbango, describing how it includes lessons like those at school, and how even small children learn the alphabet and to count to 20. They can read a few words, too, she says, and write their full names. She contrasts this with Germany, where the focus is more on observing how the children develop and offering them appropriate activities. Mbango likes her work. “I learn a lot from the children,” she says. “I can talk to them, which is improving my German, too.”

Skilled workers in demand in Germany

Sofia Mbango decided to come to Germany because she could not find a permanent job in Namibia. She describes applying for jobs where 750 people were competing for the same position. The unemployment rate in Namibia is very high, particularly among young people. But in Germany, many sectors are looking for skilled workers, including the childcare sector. Mbango got the chance to take up her current job as an early years teacher through Talent Orange, a company from Frankfurt am Main which recruits skilled workers from abroad for jobs in the social work and healthcare sectors. A friend of Mbango’s cousin had found a job as a nurse through this route and encouraged her to apply herself. “There are more career opportunities for me in Germany than there are in my homeland,” says Mbango. “I can get more experience for my career here. The quality of life is good and I am earning more than in Namibia.”

German language course in Namibia

She did not find it difficult to decide to move to a foreign country. “I was excited about going abroad and learning a new language.”Mbango started by leaving the coastal city of Walvis Bay to move to Windhoek for a full-time German course, where she reached level B2 in only eight months. Learning German in such a short time was a challenge. Looking back on her first day at work in Bad Homburg, Mbango recalls, “I was nervous, and while I could understand a lot in German, I still couldn’t speak it that well.”But at the kindergarten she meet friendly and helpful colleagues, she says. She explains how the children, who themselves come from many different cultures, were very curious about her on her first day. “They asked me questions about elephants and lions,” she says, laughing.

In Germany she misses her family, despite living near Bad Homburg with two other nursery teachers with whom she took the same language course. One of them is her cousin. Together they prepare traditional Namibian dishes and even try to recreate the German food which Mbango gets in the kindergarten, such as “kartoffelpuffer” (potato pancakes) and “frikadellen” (meatballs). She first encountered traditional German food on her language course. “We once ate sauerkraut,” Mbango recalls with a laugh, reflecting on how the acidic, fermented cabbage didn’t go down very well with her classmates.

“Make it in Germany” – information for skilled workers

Mbango has only been here a few months, but she has already become a point of contact for friends and acquaintances in Namibia who want to find out about life in Germany or are interested in working abroad themselves. She is not always able to help, she says. The German Federal Government’s Make it in German portal offers information for skilled workers from abroad in several languages.

Prospects for the future

Mbango is currently completing her one-year qualification to become recognised early years teacher, but she still has plenty of other plans. She wants to improve her German even further and get her driving licence. She says she started learning back in Namibia, but the opportunity to move to Germany got in the way. Sofia Mbango can also see herself going back to university to do a master’s degree in Germany. But at the same time she says, “It’s too soon to say whether I’ll stay here for the long term.”