Angela Merkel on alternating lessons in "Hotspots": "I think that's absolutely necessary"

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Merkel in the Bundestag: "We have a responsibility for the entire infection process."

Photo: via www.imago-images.de / imago images / Political-Moments

The appeal in her government statement was urgent: At least in the "hotspots of the hotspots", forms such as hybrid or alternating lessons would have to be carried out in order to lower the corona numbers in the country, demanded Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday in the Bundestag.

In other words: The recommendations from the previous evening should be implemented.

"I consider this to be absolutely necessary," says the Chancellor, noticeably dissatisfied with the soft compromise on the subject of schools that she had previously negotiated in the video conference with the country leaders.

Whether and how alternating instruction is implemented is further decided by the federal states or the local schools.

Legally, this is also provided for - education is the responsibility of the federal states - but in the pandemic, Merkel consciously speaks out on the subject: "I know that the federal government has no responsibility for schools," she said, "but we do are responsible for the entire infection process, and we cannot pretend that older students are not making any contribution. "

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After "a long period of time in our deliberations," as Merkel said, the Bund-Länder-Round had agreed on recommendations that were not particularly far-reaching: Schools in regions with a seven-day incidence of over 200 cases per 100,000 inhabitants should take further measures The joint resolution states that the teaching design should be "school-specific".

These should apply from grade eight, but not necessarily for final grades.

Hybrid or alternating lessons are cited as an example, i.e. lessons in small groups in a shift system so that the minimum distance can be maintained in the classroom.

This requirement is not mandatory.

The Chancellery had called for schools to be closed in hotspots

Merkel and the head of the Chancellery, Helge Braun, had repeatedly made it clear in the consultations with the country chiefs that they did not consider the corona requirements in schools to be sufficient.

Your proposal went much further than the compromise that has now been negotiated.

"In particularly extreme infection situations with 150/200 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per week, serious measures such as school closings, shop closings and / or exit restrictions should be provided," according to SPIEGEL information in a draft resolution from the Chancellery.

"Health or education - thinking in terms of such opposites is a common misunderstanding"

Chancellor Angela Merkel in her government statement

Braun said on Thursday that the federal government had referred to recommendations from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and the Leopoldina National Science Academy.

According to the experts, the number of infections among young people between the ages of 14 and 24 is currently particularly high, which is why "alternating classes" in separate groups, "at least keeping your distance", makes sense.

The RKI has been recommending for weeks that if there is a seven-day incidence of more than 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, you should return to the spring-changing lessons.

So far, however, this advice has only been followed sporadically, by no means across the board.

The 16 education ministers of the federal states did not want to agree on a corresponding, nationwide coordinated procedure.

For weeks you have been sticking to the fact that classroom teaching is the top priority.

This is the best way to implement the right to education.

Merkel, on the other hand, emphasized in her government statement that "health or economy, health or education - thinking in terms of such opposites is a common misunderstanding." It is always about health

education.

Braun said that the federal government is now counting on the fact that the changeover model is now consistently implemented in regions with a high level of infection: "I would really like it."

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It remains to be seen whether all federal states will fulfill this wish.

Baden-Württemberg's Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) announced on Südwestfunk that in the future there would be alternating classes in schools in his country if the number of cases is very high.

Education Minister Susanne Eisenmann (CDU) had vehemently opposed demands the day before to let students alternate between teaching at school and at home.

"Changing classes in Baden-Württemberg would be an existential mistake," she said.

"Not a good compromise"

A return to hybrid teaching has been hotly contested among specialists and school actors for months.

The federal-state resolution also triggered mixed reactions.

She would have wished for a transition to hybrid lessons and clearer decisions on the mask requirement, especially for the older students, said the virologist Melanie Brinkmann on Deutschlandfunk.

"I'm afraid now we're going to keep going around that 50s incidence and then going back over and maybe back down again, and that's actually not a good compromise because we're going to have new deaths over and over again every day." With 50s incidence 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants are meant within seven days.

By contrast, Hans-Iko Huppertz, Secretary General of the German Academy for Child and Adolescent Medicine, praised the politicians, who learned something new compared to the spring, by leaving daycare centers and schools open, especially since younger people in particular have a very low risk of infection.

The corona infections in schools were in the alcohol range.

Some parents also praise the decision: "It is important to reliably maintain face-to-face lessons up to grade 7 in order to guarantee educational security and participation," said Sabine Kohwagner from the "Children need children" initiative.

Face-to-face teaching continues to be the heart of school education.

The possible change of lessons for pupils from the 8th grade with higher infection rate should therefore be viewed critically, said Kohwagner.

»Distance or alternating instruction firstly disadvantages those pupils who are already disadvantaged by their parents' home, place of residence or origin.

Therefore we demand individual and tailor-made concepts on site that take into account the needs of all students. "

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