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Schools are returning to distance education. During the semester and summer break there will be additional learning opportunities on a voluntary basis, but the summer break will not be shortened.
It will be a déjà vu experience for students and parents: starting on January 7, schools will return to distance education, and they will follow roughly the same rules as in the second closing from mid-November to early December: students from compulsory school up to 14 Years of homeschooling, with those who need care and those who teachers feel they need help learning can come to school. High school students are also in distance education, but can be taken to schools for the attendance phases. The main focus is on Matura’s classes.
The Minister of Education, Heinz Faßmann, made one thing clear on Saturday: on January 18, there will be a return to face-to-face teaching, with no obligation for students to pre-test themselves. Because such an obligation would have been an incentive for some students not to take the exam, said the minister. And the lost class time? The Minister of Education relies on additional offers during the holidays. During the semester break there will be “supplementary lessons” for all who wish. It will be carried out by educators on a voluntary basis (with additional payment) and by teachers in training. And the “summer schools” will also return this year, and the places will be increased. But Faßmann does not want to shake up the summer holidays: there will be no shortening.
The “dictocracy” introduced? Meanwhile, the announcement of a new blockade as of December 26 provoked strong criticism from the opposition. The SPÖ speaks of a “disastrous crown management of the government”, the FPÖ sees the introduction of a “dictatorship”, a mixture of democracy and dictatorship. Party leader Norbert Hofer expressed the assumption that the freest is only a preliminary stage to “free vaccination” and announced: “If it comes to that, there will be demonstrations in our country as Austria has not yet seen.”
The government announced on Friday that there will be another tough lockdown with general exit restrictions and stores closed starting December 26. Around January 18 there will be another round of massive testing. Those who participate and have a negative test result can return to stores and restaurants, for everyone else, the lockdown ends a week later. Another decision is extremely controversial: despite closed closures, ski areas may open at Christmas, outdoor sports are allowed. However, strict safety precautions are applied, so an FFP2 mask must be worn on the gondolas.
