Munderkingen, a community of 5,000 inhabitants in the Alb-Donau district, south-west of Ulm, could be the purest idyll for young families: a picturesque old town with shingle-roofed gabled houses, located directly on the banks of the Danube. Three daycare centres, a primary and secondary school, excellent rail connections, a committed mayor and a hands-on head of administration. The perfect place for families - only: the daycare centres have too few teachers. None of the usual ways of recruiting staff helped: advertising on Instagram, job adverts on their own website or in the daily newspaper - all to no avail. ‘We received very few or completely unsuitable applications,’ reports Munderkingen's mayor Thomas Schelkle. ‘There is a shortage of 100,000 educators in Germany. We are also feeling the effects of this.
The mayor and Administration manager Axel Leute therefore decided, together with the municipal council, to take an innovative step: in October 2024, they commissioned TalentOrange to recruit three fully trained educators from Latin America. Since the beginning of February 2025, Lucia Gallo (36) and Yisell Romero (26) from Colombia and Mildred Flor (31) from Ecuador have been working as pedagogical assistants at the Schillerstraße children's centre in Munderkingen. All three have a bachelor's degree in early childhood education. In order for their degree to be recognised in Germany, all they need is a year of recognition. ‘After consultation with the Ministry of the Interior, they can shorten this to nine months with us,’ says Thomas Schelkle. All three women have acquired the B2 language certificate in German in a nine-month full-time language course in their home country. They were already able to speak fluently and understand the children and colleagues well when they started work.
A video conference took place in mid-October 2024, during which all those involved were able to get to know each other. The municipality of Munderkingen then decided in favour of the three young women. An employee from TalentOrange travelled to Munderkingen to view the workplaces of the educators and the flat provided by the municipality. ‘It's important that we look after the people who come to Germany for the first time,’ says Schelkle. That is indeed the case: The small community is full of committed people who give the three young women a warm welcome. The aim is for them to work seamlessly as educators for the town of Munderkingen after their year of recognition with a permanent employment contract. In TalentOrange's experience, 96 Percent of international professionals are still in Germany after five years, and 85 Percent are still working in their first job after five years. ‘Of course we hope for a 100 Percent rate,’ says Axel Leute, ’and make sure that the three educators are doing well here.’
It works – the young women are happy to have found work in their trained professions in Munderkingen. In Colombia and Ecuador, there are often 400 applications for a single available educator position – the labor market situation is exactly the opposite. Yisell Romero also appreciates that the children in Germany can play more independently than in her home country, Colombia. There, daycare centers are more like preschools with a strict curriculum. Lucia Gallo says: “For me, it’s a dream to work in Germany, and a great opportunity to further develop myself as an educator.” Mildred Flor is eager to get to know Germany and apply her knowledge of Montessori pedagogy, which she learned in Ecuador.
The town of Munderkingen is convinced that the investment in international recruitment is worthwhile. The amount paid by the employer covers all costs for recruitment, language courses, visas, administrative matters, and the relocation of the educators. “Basically, we have no other task than to give them a warm welcome” says the administrative director. The young women are paid according to the collective bargaining agreement for the public sector. Mayor Schelkle and administrative director Leute are convinced that the town would spend just as much money if it continued recruiting educators the traditional way – but without the guarantee of actually hiring a qualified professional. “We owe it to the families in Munderkingen to maintain our childcare services,” says Schelkle. Now, he has found a way to do that.
In this video, Lucia Gallo, Yisell Romero and Mildred Flor introduce themselves and talk about their experiences as educators in Munderkingen.
Video source: Schwäbische Zeitung. All rights reserved.