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Education ministers repeatedly emphasize that schools are safe. But in the face of hundreds of thousands of quarantine cases, opposition and concern about a progressive lockdown are growing.
By Patrick Gensing, tagesschau.de
At the end of last week, there was a voluntary mass test at Ida-Ehre-Schule in Hamburg. The reason was a higher number of corona infections. Little by little the results of a total of 1200 tests were known. Current situation: there are more than 50 infections among schoolchildren and teachers.
The Hamburg Senate spoke predominantly of a “multiple registration process”, and school authorities admitted that there were also infections in the school. But even if most infections are actually coming from outside, the question arises whether the results of this massive test can be correct at all, or whether there is a huge dark field in the city. In Hamburg, the seven-day incidence is around 160 cases, the result of the Ida-Ehre School gives an extrapolated incidence of around 5000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Consequence: The school will be closed for the time being and will switch to digital lessons.
Other schools closed
Ida Ehre School is not an isolated case. For example, at the Hessian Emsbachtal in Brechen there are no more lessons due to corona cases. At Clemens-Brentano-Europaschule (CBES) in Lollar, classroom teaching will also be suspended for all age groups until November 20 inclusive. The background is “the unclear infection process at the school,” the Giessen district said. With massive voluntary testing of schoolchildren, the number of confirmed corona cases at the school rose to 28 according to media reports.In other federal states, numerous schools have already had to close partially or totally. And more and more people are switching to so-called hybrid teaching.
The decision of education ministers to keep schools open “as long as possible” for full face-to-face teaching is increasingly questioned. The Robert Koch Institute had already recommended a general mask requirement and divided classes in schools based on a seven-day incidence of 50 infections per 100,000 inhabitants, but the federal states either did not or did not implement this nationwide. absolutely.
Conflict in NRW
The incidence is now many times higher than this limit and an estimated 300,000 schoolchildren are in quarantine. In view of the development, schools in North Rhine-Westphalia wanted to divide classes and teach at different times to avoid the complete closure of schools. However, the Ministry of Education prohibited it. A school principal from Solingen objected to this and publicly contradicted the ministry. Today the state parliament deals with the matter.
SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach said tagesschau.deIn view of the huge increase in the number of infections, “you just know very little about where people are infected. So, in general, you can’t say that schools are safe,” Lauterbach said. In doing so, he openly questions the statement of the ministers of education.
SPD President Saskia Esken spoke at ARD morning magazine in favor of teaching in schools only in smaller groups, alternating face-to-face and distance learning, at least in the upper grades. Education ministers should use these models across the board. The Education and Science Union (GEW) also calls for alternative teaching. With proper preparation, this would also be possible beginning in fourth or fifth grade.
There is also growing resistance among students. Schoolchildren in Rhineland-Palatinate, for example, alternate between online and face-to-face lessons; Due to Corona’s high numbers, they no longer feel safe in schools. In France, schoolchildren and teachers have been protesting for days to apply better safety concepts. Because school is compulsory, they are forced to attend classes.
The Federal Environment Agency also advises distance
In their course of continuing schools with face-to-face teaching, education ministers refer to a ventilation concept and corresponding recommendations from the Federal Environmental Agency. But an expert from the Federal Environment Agency says in a statement that ventilation alone is not enough. Masks and distance rulers are also necessary. But it is precisely this distance that cannot be maintained if classes are not divided.
In addition, the ministers of culture refer to investigations that show that there are hardly any infections in schools. But experts point out that these results could not be translated into the current situation. Virologist Christian Drosten said in the NDR-PodcastMany studies on the role of schools date back to the time of the first closure, when, unlike now, schools and kindergartens were also closed. This is probably one of the reasons why society has long assumed that children are less affected.
Drosten referred to antibody studies in schools showing that there have been many undetected infections in children. From there he concludes: “The impression is strengthened that school years contribute to the diffusion process as much as other age groups of the population. Drosten said: This virus doesn’t care who it affects.
* Disclosure for transparency: The author has school-age children, one of whom is currently in quarantine.
