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More hybrid lessons with a high number of infections, more school buses for deferred lessons, more often they mask the compulsory lessons for seventh graders: Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decisions and the prime ministers on school lessons are only recommendations, ultimately, the federal states decide for themselves.
“Basically, everything remains the same,” he says. Stephan Wassmuth of the Federal Council of Parents the resolutions: “My hope that countries will finally learn something from the pandemic has unfortunately not been fulfilled.” That makes him sad, says Wassmuth. Obviously, the school’s policy is only about saving itself in some way until the use of the corona vaccine: “It is not a strategy yet.”
The political representatives of the federal states value the decisions much more positively. “The resolutions are good and correct. With consistent implementation we can stabilize the school system and keep it open in principle, ”he explained. Lower Saxony Minister of Culture Grant Hendrik Tonne (SPD) to SPIEGEL: »The joint preparatory work within the Conference of Ministers of Education has borne fruit. We have already implemented most of it for Lower Saxony. We will also include clear and transparent regulations in the regulation of hotspots. “
Hybrid lessons only based on local decisions
too Armin Laschet, Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia (CDU) defended the resolutions. All of Germany is now a hotspot, he said. If there is an incidence value of more than 200 infections regionally, there are now clear recommendations for action: “This is not the Solingen model and we will not take an entire city to hybrid lessons, but we will make school-specific decisions” said the CDU politician.
In early November, its state government prohibited the city of Solingen from introducing a shift change model in all public schools, although the local incidence value at the time was higher than 280. The Düsseldorf ban sparked heated discussions; individual school principals had initially opposed the order.
It also talks about a “good solution” that I didn’t expect at all OECD Director of Education Andreas Schleicher. »The decision leaves room for maneuver in place. Schools in Germany are not used to much freedom, now it depends on how they handle it. “Because not all schools are equally well prepared for the transition model.
“In Germany, many schools not only lack digital equipment, they also lack experience,” Schleicher told SPIEGEL. »Children and young people from difficult social backgrounds are once again left behind. Hybrid lessons don’t work for them. The social gap continues to widen. ”
No plan, no reliability
“Frustrated” he said against Thursday night Dario Schramm of the National Conference of Scholars on the decisions of the heads of government. “It would have needed clear announcements and concepts for the already overwhelmed schools, so everything remains the same, without a really sure look into the future,” said the student representative. He had the impression that policy changed from week to week, “without finally planning for the long term.” Serendipitous action in education finally needs an end.
It also looks similar Gudrun Wolters-Vogeler, President of the German General Association for School Management: »Resolutions are not very consistent. This regulation does not bring any new reliability. “Many students, parents and teachers are currently extremely insecure and want to know what rules are in place to contain the corona pandemic.” Politicians should clarify this, but sadly that will not happen again. ”
If alternate lessons are to be applied from eighth grade, but not until final grades, only a few students will be affected. Years 9, 10, 12 and 13 are graduating classes in various types of schools. Wolters-Vogeler admits, however: “There is no solution in this situation that does not have disadvantages.” If traceability is to be possible and the number of quarantined children is to be reduced, the switch model is a good solution, at least for older students.
Researchers praise the alternate class model
On Wednesday, researchers from the Ifo Institute for Economic Research published a forecast of how different variants of shutdown would affect the number of infections. In doing so, they also considered in particular the closure or partial closure of schools.
“Tighter measures in educational institutions or in retail, or both, up to extensive contact and exit restrictions such as hard blocking,” are effective measures to reduce the number of infections, he says. Andreas Peichl, Director of the Ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys.
To return to an incidence value of 50 infections in seven days per 100,000 inhabitants nationwide, introducing change classes and digital distance learning could be enough, says Peichl. However, the prerequisite for this is that the necessary technical infrastructure and corresponding teaching concepts are in place: “Otherwise, there is a risk of significant costs in the education sector that could harm Germany in the long term.”
“Big omissions”
However, the low incidence value can also be achieved with schools that are open regularly, according to the researchers: “Closing and restricting more economic and commercial activities with schools open at the same time would have the same effect as a mild closure, but with closures. of schools “. Andreas Peichl, is a political decision on what is considered more acceptable: “The long-term damage from the restriction of schools or the short-term damage from the restriction of other branches of the economy.”
For many young people, the adherence of school ministries to face-to-face teaching is not good for everyone. With reference to the incidence value of more than 200 in Frankfurt am Main, it showed on the Hessian State Government City Student Council in a statement “negligence in part serious” and called for “the immediate establishment of a system between face-to-face teaching and distance learning with digital support.” Young people from several Frankfurt schools want to emphasize their demands for comprehensive hybrid teaching with a school strike on Monday.
Also in Hamburg ask several District Student Councils in a statement received by SPIEGEL, the “immediate change from everyday school life to hybrid schooling.” The requirements of the authorities correctly stipulated that a maximum of two households can meet in private, write to the students: “At school, however, we meet hundreds and, thanks to the course system, we often sit together with other classmates of class”. The truly safe and quiet environment Therefore, learning within the classroom is greatly impacted and thus also reduces learning success.
