# Frequently Asked Questions > Quelle: https://vielfalt-begleiten.nrw/questions/ > Aktualisiert: 2026-09-15T13:21:11+00:00 # Frequently Asked Questions Is your question not answered here? Write to us at [projekt@vielfalt-begleiten.nrw](mailto:projekt@vielfalt-begleiten.nrw) or call us on 0231 997800-65. ## Questions about the qualification programme ### What is an AVGS? AVGS stands for Aktivierungs- und Vermittlungsgutschein (activation and placement voucher). Jobcenters and the Federal Employment Agency can issue it to fund a measure for activation and integration into work. It is the prerequisite for taking part in the qualification programme for integration support workers. ### Why is the qualification programme aimed at women? Women with a refugee or migration background often face several hurdles at once when they enter working life. The programme therefore deliberately combines qualification with empowerment, and many participants feel safer in a women-only group. Whether a municipality also opens the programme to mixed groups is for that municipality to decide; there are already examples of this. ### What do I need in order to take part? What matters is that you enjoy working with children and have been through integration yourself. You should be able to hold a conversation in German: no particular language certificate is required, your German is assessed in an introductory interview. School leaving qualifications and work experience are not a condition. ### How long does the qualification programme take and how is it structured? Seven months in total: two months of classroom teaching, then two months of teaching combined with one day a week observing in a facility, and finally a three-month work placement in a daycare centre or in after-school care at primary schools. ### Is there an exam? No. The certificate is awarded for regular attendance and for successfully completing the work placement: there is no separate final exam. ### Is the work placement paid? The work placement is a compulsory part of the qualification programme and a condition for the certificate. Facilities may pay a small expense allowance, but they are not obliged to. ## Questions about the role and about putting it into practice ### What does an integration support worker do? Three areas: working with the qualified education specialists, supporting the children and keeping in contact with the parents. In practice that means help with daily routines, building social bonds, low-threshold activities for children, language mediation and explaining how things work. ### How does she differ from a qualified education specialist? Qualified education specialists bring vocational training or a degree and the specialist knowledge that goes with it. Integration support workers work with children only under the guidance of a specialist: their contribution lies in everyday support, language mediation and access to families with a migration background. ### How do children and parents with a migration background benefit? Children gain an adult in their own group they can identify with, and that gives them a sense of security. Parents have the routines and the particulars of the facility explained to them, in their first language where needed, and are pointed towards further support and advice services. ### How does she take pressure off the specialists? By supporting children as the situation requires, lending a hand with daily routines and mediating between cultures, she gives the specialists room for their core educational work. ### Can integration support workers also work in after-school care? Yes: after-school care at primary schools is the project’s new field of work. At the interface between school, after-school care and family, integration support workers take on a role of their own, from communication with families through to supporting children at points of transition. The precise arrangements differ from one municipality to the next. ### Are there services for integration support workers who are already employed? Yes. Since 2023 there has been an online networking meeting twice a year for all employed integration support workers in North Rhine-Westphalia. ### Which training providers can offer the qualification programme? Any training provider certified under AZAV (the German accreditation ordinance for employment support providers) can have the measure certified and run it. The transfer agency supplies the curriculum and the materials. ### Which partners are needed to run the project in a municipality? At least three: a provider of daycare centres or of after-school care, or the youth welfare office; a training provider; and the Jobcenter or the Federal Employment Agency. ### How does the transfer agency help with setting up a new location? With information events and personal support, advice on local network building, introductions to the relevant contacts and know-how on certification and the curriculum: from the first approach through to the employment phase.