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The issue of school closings for all under-14s hangs like a sword of Damocles over Austria. Now parents are facing homeschooling by assault.
Schools are still open for all children in the lower grades, the lessons continue. But how much more? In light of Corona’s dramatic numbers, rumor has it that all educational institutions could soon “close down,” it is said.
Health Minister Rudolf Anschober (Greens) had spoken of “setting the course” over the weekend and further tightening the lockdown in the room. “Today” columnist Nikolaus Glattauer fears schools will close on November 16. For parents, that would once again mean that they would have to stay home with their children, a real challenge.
“I didn’t learn much” from the first confinement
The Upper Austrian “Initiative for Parents” is now rising to the barricades against homeschooling. “Nobody talks to us parents, even though we have the most important homework in online lessons,” says initiator Peter Androsch. He, the father of two school-age children, has partnered with other parents and has written an open letter to the Minister of Education, Heinz Faßmann (ÖVP) and to the education directorates of the federal states.
“Would you force your child to watch six hours or more a day? No? Schools do it,” they write. Those responsible “had not learned much” from the first confinement. Compulsory schooling does not mean that parents are required to provide computers and the Internet at home. At the same time, one is forced to use commercial platforms, as there is no corresponding state alternative yet.
“Outcast and maligned”
“Schools treat parents as if they are taking orders. Instead of taking pressure off them, the opposite happens. Those who do not participate get worse grades!” Androsch rumbles in the document. (full length below) Follow. “Those who are unwilling or unable to comply with the online restriction are marginalized and maligned as underperforming people. That is the opposite of what we need in the crisis.”
She would like everyone involved to get involved: “Every day, parents must make a great contribution to their children’s progress in school and cannot be ignored in such far-reaching decisions. Trust is the magic word.” Each class should be able to clarify the most suitable method of homeschooling with the parents.
State policy against school closings, but …
They get the support of state policy. Both the regional director of Lower Austria, Johanna Mikl-Leitner (ÖVP), and Hans Peter Doskozil (SPÖ) in Burgenland do not want to support a new school closure.
“I am resolutely against a renewed educational lockdown,” Doskozil said.today“Such a measure” would mean a waste of time for the children affected and would massively impair their educational development. “
READ MORE: So Dramatic Is The School Closing Warning Now
Mikl-Leitner advocated “keeping schools open as long as possible under strict hygiene standards.” “On the one hand this is important so as not to overwhelm our families in care and to offer children and young people the best education possible. On the other hand, open schools also help keep the additional economic damage as low as possible,” He argued regarding the establishments still open.
… the experts are in favor
On the other side of the coin there are many experts who consider it necessary to close a school. Low infection behavior among children is less decisive than the fact that schools are places where many people, including adults, gather. Now it is important to stop contact with other people to have a chance against the virus.
Education Minister Faßmann is well aware of the controversial issue: “There is a wide range of research on the subject,” the official said in a statement to the APA. “It is important to strike a balance between protecting health and legitimate interests in education.”
