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School closures across the country should be avoided, but in the face of rising corona and quarantine cases, calls for stricter requirements are increasing. How can schools get through the Corona winter? An overview.
By Birgit Virnich, WDR
How is the situation?
The corona virus also does not stop in schools and kindergartens. However, the federal and state governments want to keep schools and day care centers open as long as possible, as opposed to the spring closure. In doing so, it sets clear priorities for education. Therefore, the lessons continue to be taught in person, in accordance with strict hygiene regulations. But doubts about whether the measures taken are sufficient for schools are growing stronger: SPD expert Karl Lauterbach spoke out in favor of keeping schools open in any case. “But the way schools are run now is not safe enough,” he said.
In Germany there are around eleven million students and around 800,000 teachers. According to the Conference of Ministers of Education, 106 schools (0.37 percent) are currently completely closed and 4,074 partially (14 percent) are closed due to corona outbreaks. Almost 200,000 schoolchildren are currently in quarantine. That corresponds to about 1.8 percent of all students. So far, 18,298 (0.17 percent) have been infected with the corona virus. Of the teachers, 3,798 were infected (0.42 percent), 13,101 (1.46 percent) are currently affected by quarantine measures.
It is unclear when who should be quarantined. The regulations of the health authorities in different states and federal districts are very different. If the entire class is quarantined in one district, in the other it is only the direct neighbors, if at all. Criticism also ignites this.
How can schools get through the Corona winter?
National school closings should be avoided; there is broad agreement on this. There are different ideas on the table.
Ventilation in schools it is considered one of the most important measures to contain Corona. “Nothing can replace classroom ventilation,” emphasizes virologist Melanie Brinkmann of the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research. In some schools, the windows are open for the entire class. Students are encouraged to stay on the school grounds during breaks, even when it rains. Therefore, students should always have warm clothing ready in the winter months.
Mobile air filter systems They are particularly useful in classrooms where there is not enough cross and shock ventilation to remove contagious aerosols from the room air. In any case, mobile air purification devices ensure that the concentration of infectious particles drops, according to the Federal Environment Agency. However, systems must be sized accordingly, configured and maintained properly. Depending on the device, they can cost between 1,000 and 3,000 euros per classroom. The Max Planck Institute, however, has already published instructions for a simple system that filters 90 percent of aerosols from the air in the room.
Bavaria is considering Protective masks FFP2 to be distributed to all teachers. That should also happen in Lower Saxony, demands the education and science union (GEW). Another requirement: Plexiglass walls to be able to do without masks in class.
Another idea: use extracurricular learning locationswhen the lessons in the classrooms become too dangerous because the distance cannot be kept there. Federal Economy Minister Peter Altmaier suggested, for example, school lessons in closed restaurants and hotels to better comply with distance rules. “I would appreciate if the lessons took place, for example, in community centers, cultural centers or in the unused rooms of restaurants and hotels,” said the CDU politician of “Bild am Sonntag”. There has also been talk of museums.
Divided classes: The Robert Koch Institute recommends dividing school classes above a certain threshold value. It could only appeal to schools to constantly implement its hygiene concepts, RKI chief Lothar Wieler said at the press conference on November 12. It is impossible to control the pandemic if the role of children is not taken into account. “We know that after puberty, children can shed as much virus as adults.”
Splitting the classes is strongly recommended, says virologist Brinkmann. Smaller groups allow children to be the holes. Sport is also possible. “We must do everything possible to avoid a lockdown, like in the spring,” because it has become clear that face-to-face teaching is especially important for younger students.
After entire classes have to be quarantined and many teachers are absent, more and more schools want to operate in one of the so-called Hybrid lessons move. This is a combination of face-to-face and distance learning. In this configuration, some students participate in the classroom lessons, while others follow the lessons from home or work independently through the material they discuss in the chat with the teacher. The education union GEW also calls for a shift between classroom teaching and home schooling from a seven-day incidence rate of 50 new infections per 100,000 population. Changing lessons is one way to prevent the complete closure of schools, says GEW chief Marlies Tepe.
To this end, some schools have expanded their digital platforms so that students can work independently at home. The goal is to reduce the number of students in the classroom.
The Permanent Conference, however, repeatedly emphasizes the importance of face-to-face teaching. At the close of the spring it became clear what disadvantages the lack of face-to-face teaching had, President Stefanie Hubig recalled. “Many students actually struggled to follow suit.” The SPD politician generally did not rule out alternate lessons, that is, a combination of face-to-face and online lessons. But this is always only “the second best option”.
What concrete proposals exist before the federal-state consultations?
For one mask general requirement The Federal Minister of Education, Anja Karliczek, defends teaching in all schools. In the current phase of high number of infections, he considers this to be “reasonable”, also in primary schools, said the CDU politician. Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder made a similar statement. He now needs “uniform Crown rules”, for example a mask requirement for all schools in Germany, he told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. Health Minister Jens Spahn Spahn was also open to expanding the requirement for masks. “The alternative in many regions is to close schools, and I am very sure that if the option is to wear a mask or not go to school, then it is better to wear a mask,” Spahn said.
North Rhine-Westphalia wants Christmas holidays prefer. Classes will end on December 18, 2020, two days earlier than planned. The earlier start of the holidays would give families plenty of time to isolate themselves so they can safely visit relatives at Christmas, according to the argument. The Christmas holidays could also start earlier in Baden-Württemberg. Other countries think little of the idea. So there would only be five days between the last day of school and Christmas Eve, less than the incubation period for SARS-CoV-2 according to current knowledge, according to Lower Saxony’s objection. “We cannot justify sending the bogus security message,” a ministry spokesman said. Another counterargument: parents who have to work face a caregiving problem. Plus: in nine countries, the holidays start on December 21 anyway.
