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On Thursday morning, around 50 people gathered in Ebikon to demonstrate against the mandatory use of masking for fifth graders. This was planned, but was not implemented.
There was excitement at Ebikon on Thursday morning. At 8 a.m., about 50 adults gathered in front of the Wydenhof school for an unauthorized rally, police say. After two warnings to leave the square, the police broke up the demonstration around 9:30 am The participants controlled by the police will be referred to the responsible prosecutor. One person was temporarily detained “to maintain public order and security,” police said.
Video: PilatusToday
The protesters protested against an alleged mask requirement for fifth and sixth grade elementary students. The call for the demonstration was made through social networks. In a message our newspaper has received, he erroneously says: “In Ebikon, masking is mandatory all day from tomorrow for all 5th graders! We defend ourselves against it! “The demo is bound to send a positive signal.
“Urgent recommendation”, but not an obligation
Solo: Ebikon does not have any mask requirements for elementary students. In a communication dated October 21, Chancellor Ralph Späni wrote that the mask requirement only applies to high school teachers and students. “From a 5th / 6th mask requirement we are currently ignoring the classes,” said Späni. However, he reiterates an “urgent recommendation” to wear masks during classes and in buildings until the end of October.
People demonstrate against the supposed requirement of the mask.
How did this error arise? The reason is probably that in the municipalities of Ebikon, Root and Buchrain, until recently, a mask requirement was planned for the fifth grade. “We originally wanted to be mandatory from fifth grade onwards, as it roughly corresponds to the age at which one has to wear masks on public transportation,” explains Rooter Mayor Heinz Schumacher (FDP).
At that time, the canton had not yet established clear guidelines. However, as the government has in the meantime introduced a high school mask requirement, plans at the municipal level were abandoned on short notice and cantonal guidelines were adopted. This not only applies to Root and Ebikon, but to Buchrain as well. “In our case too, the requirement of the communicated mask was dropped from the fifth grade and it was declared voluntary,” explains Mirjam Urech (CVP), director of education. Such duty would only have made sense anyway if it had been coordinated with Root and Ebikon.
Note: In an earlier version of this article, it was said that Root and Buchrain had introduced a mask requirement since fifth grade. That is not right. We apologize for this error.
The police intervened.
