Since January 11: the Teachers Association does not believe in face-to-face teaching in the short term

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LHonorary representatives give little hope of returning to normal school operations after the Christmas break. “We also do not expect full face-to-face teaching to be possible again from January 11,” said the president of the Association of German Teachers, Heinz-Peter Meidinger. Depending on the corona infection, there will still need to be an alternate lesson phase with classes split in half, hybrid lessons, or pure distance learning phases.

The president of the Union for Education and Science (GEW), Marlis Tepe, expects the number of infections to continue to rise. “So there are also reasons to fear that alternate classes will be longer,” he said. In your opinion, after the school holidays, you should first continue with such alternation, that is, with the division of classes and alternate lessons at school and at home. Many teachers have had very good experiences with him, Tepe said.

The way schools start the new year after January 10 is largely open. The ministers of education of the federal states want to discuss this on January 4. A day later, Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and federal state prime ministers are expected to make decisions on how to proceed in the Corona crisis in their next round of talks. As always, the actual implementation rests with the individual federal states, which are responsible for their own schools.

Lower Saxony is already planning with alternate lessons

From time to time there have already been statements about how things could go in the new year. Lower Saxony, for example, plans from January 11 to the end of the first semester of the year on January 31 for grades 5 to 12 with alternating lessons, for Abitur classes and primary schools with face-to-face lessons, but for all pupils with mask in class

North Rhine-Westphalia School Minister Yvonne Gebauer (FDP) prepared schools for three different scenarios in the new year in a letter shortly before Christmas. At best, there would be classroom teaching nationwide in the tiered model. Gebauer first referred to the deliberations between the federal states and Merkel on January 5.

It all depends on the development of the number of infections. If they don’t go down, many working parents will face the now-familiar problems again in the New Year: Who should take care of the children when they have to stay home? How should it work with the home office if you also have to babysit during the day? For students and teachers, the question also arises whether distance education is working and how it works. And the fear that disadvantaged children will be left behind due to lack of education and care is repeatedly expressed.

When schools closed in the spring, the homework principle still applied in many places. In the meantime, needy students have been provided rental laptops, but before Christmas it became clear that there were still major problems with so-called homeschooling: In several federal states, digital learning platforms were overloaded and failed to deliver. start of the blockade.

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Head of the Chancellery, Helge Braun

The head of the chancellery, Helge Braun (CDU), and the family minister, Franziska Giffey (SPD), recently assured that schools and kindergartens would be the first places to reopen. But no one can give a clear forecast at this time. Stefanie Hubig (SPD), who remains in office until the end of the year, told VRM Group newspapers: “My goal is: as soon as possible, as much classroom teaching as possible.” Students learn best at school, not at home. Baden-Württemberg Education Minister Susanne Eisenmann (CDU) made a similar statement.

The vice president of the parliamentary group FDP, Katja Suding, asked the ministers of education of the federal states to “use every day until 10 January to develop long-term strategies for teaching in corona conditions.” Ministers would have to do everything they can to ensure that classroom teaching is available as widely as possible with appropriate protective and hygienic measures.

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But the issue is one of the most controversial in this pandemic. Politically, in the summer the motto was given not to close schools and daycare centers again if possible or to switch to shift work as in the first Corona wave, referring to the threat of educational losses and social disadvantage for children and students. This took place largely in mid-December. However, the more the number of infections increased, the louder became the criticism from education unions that insufficient attention was paid to protecting the health of teachers and educators.

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The atmosphere was divided, said GEW chief Marlis Tepe. “There are colleagues who are extremely worried, angry and basically feel betrayed because they have the feeling that the State is not fulfilling its duty of care.” He also referred to the case of a teacher in Berlin who recently died after a corona infection. In addition, there are also colleagues who highlighted the importance of face-to-face teaching, Tepe added. And there are those who accept things as they are. “Everyone tries to square the circle between the compatibility of family and work, the legal right to education and the protection of health.”