In the midst of the Corona crisis, schools are gradually being reopened. There is still plenty of criticism from parents.
- In the middle of the corona pandemic , operation in schools in Germany is now gradually resuming.
- However, a team of researchers led by Berlin-based virologist Christian Drosten has warned against the unrestricted opening of schools and other care facilities in a recent study.
- Here you will find the basic facts about the corona virus * and the corona news from Germany. You can also find current case numbers in Germany here as a map *. The following recommendations for corona protective measures * are currently available. These new corona rules should apply - an overview *.
- This ticker has had its day. You can follow all current developments in NRW here.
Update from May 8, 2020, 1:47 p.m .: Schools were closed for weeks because of the Corona crisis , now they are opening again step by step. Many overwhelmed parents now hope for an improvement in the situation. Normal classes will no longer be possible this school year . This means that the parents and pupils will continue to have to largely take care of the school content independently.
Many parents complain about the teachers , some of whom are not available at all. There are allegations that educators take too much free time. A teacher even turned to a court to avoid having to go back to school. She had complained that the state and school authorities had not yet submitted a sufficient hygiene plan.
Elementary school teacher fails in court - teachers have to go back to schools
The Frankfurt administrative court has now rejected the so-called "urgent legal protection request" of the primary school teacher. Interior expert Michael Kuffer (CSU) told the picture : “Individual teachers should not shirk their responsibility for the students in the Corona crisis . I expect that like police officers, nursery school staff and hospital staff, they accept a certain residual risk and return to the classrooms of our schools. ”
So do the teachers avoid responsibility? Finn Wandhoff (19), head of the Schüler-Union , opposes a generalization: “Most teachers do a good job under the most difficult conditions. But as in all industries, there are of course black sheep among teachers, from which the reputation of all colleagues suffers. ”
Some teachers even ask too much. Lou-Marleen Appuhn (18), state school spokeswoman for Hesse , receives messages from desperate classmates every day. She told the picture : “The students are overloaded and overwhelmed with mountains of homework that can hardly be mastered. You can't ask a 13-year-old to work from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. like an adult in the home office. ”The problems of the students and parents remain for the time being.
Corona loosening for schools and daycare centers: Lindner is helping families - "Done with nerves"
Update from May 7, 12.55. O'clock : "Families and children must not fall over the back", Christian Lindner now warns of the corona loosening * and calls for clear concepts for the daycare centers to reopen . Many families are "tired of their nerves in view of the long daycare and school closings," said the FDP chairman in Berlin.
A perspective for the reopening also included hygiene concepts and protective equipment * for the employees. In addition, the daycare openings would have to be accompanied scientifically * , according to Lindner.
Corona loosening for schools and daycare centers: emergency care is being expanded
Update from May 7, 9.27 a.m .: SPD and Greens complain about the lack of prospects for parents and children in the recent Corona easing . SPD leader Saskia Esken described the agreements as a “fatal signal to the families”.
Esken criticized that there was a concrete concept for the Bundesliga , but not for the education and care of children. "In this context, the continuation of the Bundesliga is good news for many fans - it must appear cynical to many parents," she told the dpa.
Greens faction vice Katja Dörner criticized: "The plans to open the daycare remain vague, families still do not know what to prepare for."
The federal government's drug commissioner , Daniela Ludwig (CSU) , warned of the long-term consequences, especially for the children of addicted parents: "Suddenly they sit all alone with the drunk father or mother - without outside help in the worst case," said the CSU- Politician of the world .
Coronavirus - school opening in Schleswig-Holstein
© dpa / Carsten Rehder
Corona loosening for schools and day-care centers: emergency care is expanded
Update 20.07: At the federal-state consultations, Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Prime Ministers agreed that the emergency care of daycare should be expanded everywhere from May 11 at the latest . In addition, it was stipulated that the transition from daycare to emergency care and restricted regular operations, as well as the opening of universities and other non-school educational institutions, is the responsibility of the federal states.
Coronavirus: Conference of Ministers of Culture welcomes federal and state resolutions for schools and daycare centers
The Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK), meanwhile, was satisfied with the decision by the federal and state governments to restart schooling in the corona pandemic. "Today's decision is groundbreaking," said KMK President Stefanie Hubig (SPD) . The Rhineland-Palatinate Minister of Education further emphasized that it had become clear to everyone that "school is much more than just lessons". School is a place of social interaction, exchange and friendships.
Schools, students and parents would have asked for a perspective. "We can give them this with today's decision," said Hubig. The first school openings on May 4 as well as the written Abitur exams in some countries went very well overall , she reported. Following the decision of Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of government of the federal states, school operations are now to be resumed step by step until the summer holidays - in compliance with distance and hygiene rules. These apply to school buses, lessons and breaks.
Coronavirus: Minister of Family Affairs Giffey calls on the federal states to regulate childcare facilities quickly
Update 17:57: Federal Minister of Family Affairs Franziska Giffey (SPD) has called on the federal states to quickly regulate the future childcare offer in daycare centers. After the federal-state consultations on the corona loosening on Wednesday, the states would now have to "provide specific dates, when and which children can visit their daycare or day care, even if this can only be done with restrictions", Giffey in Berlin demanded. "We need a perspective for all children and parents."
The Minister of Family welcomed the fact that for the first time there had been an agreement to expand emergency childcare throughout the federal states in all federal states from May 11th . According to the decision of the Chancellor and the Prime Minister, the individual details regulate the individual federal states.
Meanwhile, details of the process of the federal-state consultations came to the public. Chancellor Angela Merkel and a prime minister are said to have had a particularly great need for discussion.
Coronavirus: Children should have been back to school and daycare by summer - extended emergency care from May 11th
Update 5:02 pm: By summer all children should be reintegrated into school lessons or day care centers. The prime ministers decided this in a telephone switching conference with Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) on Wednesday. The emergency care of daycare centers is to be expanded everywhere from May 11 at the latest . This has already happened in some federal states. Lower Saxony, among other things, has announced that day-care center operations will start on August 1st.
U pdate 13:35: At the resumption of the Kita-operation are the countries probably stand behind a common concept of the 16 youth ministers. NRW Family Minister Joachim Stamp will probably be able to expand the current emergency care . Before the summer holidays, all children should return to daycare centers and schools, as far as the plan. Stamp wanted "maximum freedom for the countries to decide for themselves," as he told Spiegel.
Coronavirus: Schools and daycare centers are gradually returning to business
Update from May 6, 10:15 a.m . : On Thursday, the federal government wants to present an appropriate concept for school openings . This was what the Federal Cabinet had proposed last week in the Chancellor's discussions with the Prime Minister. But just a day before the scheduled date, several federal states are leaping into the breach with their own concepts.
The cabinet proposes to gradually allow all students to return to school until the summer holidays. Pupils with special support needs, for example because of the domestic situation or the technical equipment, should "receive targeted pedagogical presence offers at schools as soon as possible". Graduating classes, older elementary school students and classes taking exams next year are already back in schools in many places. The state ministers of education are also in agreement that until the summer holidays, for example via shift models, all other pupils can return to schools at least temporarily, but that there will not be normal operation for the time being. The Corona Cabinet's resolution * for the Merkel Summit provides for further easing in other areas of public life.
Before the Prime Ministers' Summit with Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), Baden-Württemberg's Prime Minister Kretschmann is also clear *.
Corona loosening for schools and daycare centers: Bavaria and Hesse rush ahead - court overturns mask requirement
Update from May 5, 6:11 p.m .: No mask requirement at schools in Jena . Schoolchildren from the city of Thuringia no longer need to wear mouth and nose protection in class . The administrative court of Gera decided on Tuesday in a rush. The regulation in the city's latest general decree was declared illegal, as court spokesman Bernd Amelung told the German Press Agency.
Due to the currently low number of infections in the city, there was no need for such stricter hygiene precautions in the classroom, it said. The city had taken a special route with the mask requirement that had been in force since the beginning of the week. The Free Waldorf School Jena had taken legal action against this.
Update from May 5, 12:38: Decisions regarding schools and day care centers were also made in Hesse . Lessons are to begin again on May 18 for a large number of students. Among them are the fourth graders and many students in secondary schools.
The remaining elementary school students should return to the classrooms on June 2, as the Ministry of Culture announced on Tuesday at the request of the German Press Agency (DPA) in Wiesbaden. Because of the corona pandemic, only the final grades of secondary schools are currently being taught in Hessen .
From May 18, school operations for, among other things, the secondary level I and the introductory phase of secondary level II should start at least to a limited extent, the ministry explained. This would mean that all students in secondary schools would be back in class at least temporarily. A further opening of the vocational schools is planned. Minister of Education Alexander Lorz (CDU) explained that school activities in this school year will continue to consist of days spent attending school and learning from home.
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Corona loosening for families: Bavaria with far-reaching decisions for schools and daycare centers
Update of May 5, 12.30 p.m .: Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder spoke at a press conference on Tuesday about the easing of the daycare and schools . Caution is advised, says Markus Söder. On the one hand, there are parents who need care, other parents are very concerned. "Our goal is that until Pentecost up to 50 percent of the children will be looked after again in the daycare centers." After Pentecost, the other part should then follow, says Söder. From May 25th, all preschool children should follow.
The same system is also used in schools . The aim is that all students can return to class in the current school year. For the time being, a division of classes is also foreseen, but the obligation to wear a mask does not apply during lessons, but during breaks. Until Pentecost, there is also a relaxed attendance requirement for the students.
A four-stage plan is being pursued, as Minister of Culture Michael Piazolo announced . The first took place on April 27, when final classes were allowed to return to class. Second step: On May 11th, the pre-grading classes and the fourth grades of primary school should return. That was decided now. Third: On May 18 and May 25, the younger students of the respective school type should also return. The fourth step with the remaining stages should come on June 15th, "if the infection allows it," said Piazolo.
Corona decisions on schools and daycare centers: one federal state is advancing - daycare opening decided
Update of May 5, 10.55 a.m .: As reported by the German Press Agency (DPA) , the restrictions on childcare imposed by the corona virus in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are to be significantly relaxed. According to the DPA , regular care should begin again for the approximately 4,500 children with nannies and child minders on May 11. A week later, on May 18, according to plans by the Ministry of Social Affairs, all 13,600 preschool children will be able to return to daycare . The plans are to be an issue in the cabinet on Thursday.
Also Lower Saxony has announced a relaxation of the corona limitations in child care. There the day care should open again on May 11th.
Coronavirus: Greens boss Göring-Eckardt provides for the Ministry of the Family to make decisions outside
Update of May 4, 11:42 am: The Green Group leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt has criticized the lack of the Ministry of Family Affairs in the Corona cabinet . "Families bear a particularly heavy burden in this crisis," emphasized Göring-Eckardt in an interview with Bild am Sonntag . The Green politician is therefore completely incomprehensible that the family minister is at most "a dinghy". "Apparently it was neither Merkel nor Scholz important enough to focus on families," criticized the minister. It is disappointing that Minister Franziska Giffey (SPD) is not about fighting to have a say in the center of the decisions .
Only health minister Jens Spahn (CDU) and the departments for foreign, domestic, finance and defense have regular positions in the Corona cabinet, which meets on Mondays and Thursdays . Giffey defended the composition against the Bild newspaper: “The Corona cabinet is deliberately kept small. That makes sense, ”she said. Depending on the agenda, technical ministers are called in at the Thursday meetings. Giffey pointed out that she was allowed to attend two Thursday sessions and emphasized: "In the debate about easing measures, I have worked very hard for the interests of children and parents - in internal votes and in public."
Corona virus in Germany: Gradual opening of schools and daycare centers planned
First report from May 4, 2020:
Berlin / Düsseldorf - Chancellor Angela Merkel and the state premiers want to decide next Wednesday how the gradual opening of schools and daycare centers in the midst of the Corona crisis will continue. And pressure comes from North Rhine-Westphalia in advance . NRW State Minister for Family Affairs Joachim Stamp (FDP) has threatened to go it alone if daycare centers are opened if Merkel does not decide on a uniform opening course with the country heads on Wednesday.
Corona decision on schools and daycare centers: NRW threatens to go it alone
"I would now like to go our own way," said the Deputy Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia in the " Morning Briefing " podcast by Gabor Steingart. He further emphasized: "We will not allow ourselves to be put off for another week." Stamp would like the day care centers to be "improvised" . This should enable children to be given access as quickly as possible and "day care workers and educators feel safe even in times of the pandemic," said Stamp.
The FDP politician criticized that the situation of families and children during the Corona crisis had been neglected in the past few days. In addition, Stamp emphasized that the family ministers of the federal states had "shown clear paths" and presented a "concept of gradual opening" . In this context, the NRW family minister speaks of four phases, starting with emergency care and extending emergency care to improvised regular operation and finally regular operation . In the meantime, the phase between extended emergency care and improvised regular operation has been reached - "if we let us do it," complained Stamp.
NRW family minister Joachim Stamp (FDP) wants to open daycare centers again as soon as possible - and is now threatening to go it alone nationally.
© dpa / Federico Gambarini
Coronavirus: Drosten's research team warns - children are just as contagious as adults
While the family minister is pressing for the daycare facilities to be opened quickly, a team of researchers led by the Berlin virologist Prof. Christian Drosten * provided insights into the coronavirus that did not support Stamp's request. According to the study, children in the coronavirus pandemic are probably as contagious as adults *. The scientists are therefore warning of unrestricted opening of schools and kindergartens in Germany. As the team from the Berlin Charité reports, the number of viruses that can be detected in the respiratory tract does not differ among different age groups.
The extent to which children pass the virus on to others has so far been unclear, according to the previously published study, which has not yet been examined by independent experts. It is also difficult to investigate the transferability of children, especially because the schools were closed early and the virus was passed on mainly by adult travelers, especially in the initial phase of the epidemic. In addition, children often have only mild or no symptoms * and are therefore less frequently tested.
Coronavirus study at Charité shows: viral load does not differ between age groups
The team around Drosten had now determined the amount of Sars-CoV-2 viruses in samples from 3712 infected people . They found no difference in viral load between different age groups . The researchers' conclusion: When assessing the risk of infection * in schools and kindergartens, the same assumptions that apply to adults would have to be used.
Viral loads by PCR as seen in our laboratories. No significant difference between children and adults. Age categories: Kindergarten (KG), Grade school (GS), Highschool (HS), etc. with age ranges and (counts). https://t.co/xunzyHEi47 pic.twitter.com/je73hsKrZb
- Christian Drosten (@c_drosten) April 29, 2020They also admitted that there are arguments that children are less contagious than adults. For example, that they usually have no symptoms * and therefore cough less. On the other hand, they are much more physically and socially active.
Referring to a “science” study in his NDR podcast, Drosten reported that children and adults apparently have a different risk of infection : - to put it simply, children are only a third as susceptible to coronavirus infection as adults. The virologist, however, raised concerns that this might be balanced out by behavior - for example, because children have much more intensive contact with each other.
Superb new study: Risk of infection upon exposure in children may be about 1/3 that of adults (sorry for the simplification). Important counterpart to yesterday's viral load data (https://t.co/XfpT7Iu3ym)https://t.co/UkOWtEHiJE
- Christian Drosten (@c_drosten) April 30, 2020Lothar Wieler, head of the Robert Koch Institute, also emphasized on Thursday that children played the same role in the spread as adults. "They can be infected, they can get rid of the virus and infect others," he said.
Schools / daycare centers in Germany: Stamp demands more freedom of choice for the federal states
However, Stamp does not seem to dissuade these findings from his course. He insists that the countries need "their freedom" because the corona pandemic is different in the countries. But even though NRW is one of the federal states most affected by the pandemic , Stamp sharply criticized the gradual and cautious approach taken by the government in the form of regular consultations with the country heads of state Stamp. It is "not a permanent condition" that the Chancellor alone with the 16 Prime Ministers decides "what works and what doesn't work". Whether it is going to go it alone in North Rhine-Westphalia when it comes to opening the daycare center depends largely on the outcome of the federal-state consultations on Wednesday.
By the way: You can find tips on how to keep children busy in school-free and daycare-free times in the following video.
* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
cia with AFP and dpa
Rubric list picture: © dpa / Bodo Schackow
