Central Agency for Schools Abroad

The Central Agency for Schools Abroad (ZfA) is a department of the German Federal Office of Administration

The Central Agency for Schools Abroad has approximately 90 employees and 50 consultants. It oversees the school work in foreign countries that is offered to German families working outside Germany.

Worldwide, it monitors approximately 1,000 schools, including 140 German schools abroad. The German schools abroad are mainly in private ownership.

Around 2,000 foreign service teachers, teachers and programme consultants are at these facilities. They work abroad with organizational, educational and financial supports from the Central Agency for Schools Abroad.

The tasks of the Central Agency for Schools Abroad are:

• Educational and administrative advice to the German schools and educational institutions abroad, as well as assistance in developing a quality management
• Extraction, selection and recruitment of teachers for use in the German schools abroad as well as in public education
• Preparation, continuing education and training of teachers
• Financial support from teachers abroad and program teachers
• Preparing for German and international accounts
• Development and implementation of the tests in German as a Foreign Language (German language diploma of the Standing Conference)
• German specialist teaching
• Education Middle subject teaching
• Vocational Education
• Grants as part of our cultural and educational policies
• Construction of structures for international cooperation

As part of our cultural and educational policy it also informs the German Foreign Office on developments in overseas schools on its website.

---

> Germany

> Virtual schools