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Schoolchildren transports under pandemic conditions: like sardines

2020-08-31T04:52:15.019Z


Strictly separated in the schoolyard, but crowded in the school bus: Parents criticize that the way to school leads to the corona protection ad absurdum.


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School bus in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: "The fact that our children are crammed into these full buses every day takes the corona rules ad absurdum"

Photo: Jens Büttner / picture alliance / dpa

What was just a grievance before the pandemic is now becoming a problem: "The tight oil sardine trip on the school buses does not fit in with the strictly separate groups of schoolchildren in the schoolyards," says Claudia Pick, chairwoman of the state parents' council of the grammar schools in Schleswig-Holstein.

Schools in the far north have been reopening regularly for the past three weeks - or how a school day in which children of different grades are not supposed to meet, masks have to be worn in the school yard and in the hallways and not all subjects can take place as usual can call.

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A lot was rescheduled and regulated in the schoolyard and in the classrooms, but the way to school was not given much thought in many federal states. Joachim Schack from the Omnibus Verband Nord is surprised: "I pointed out the problem back in April," says the managing director of the interest group for Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. When it comes to transportation, he explains, the calculations have always been tight. But now there is a growing lack of understanding that the pupils should squeeze into the school buses as usual.

Education Minister not responsible

Schack has therefore gone on the offensive: He announced in the media that the companies in his association would have at least a hundred buses free in the short term, which could be used in the rural area in addition to the regular school buses. Schack makes no secret of the fact that the offer naturally also serves personal interests: the industry is suffering from the pandemic, and many coaches are still in the depots. A new assignment as a school bus driver would be convenient for many. But who pays for the additional offer?

In Germany, as so-called school authorities, the districts, cities or municipalities are usually responsible for the school buses. According to the Schleswig-Holstein Ministry of Education, the school authorities would have to decide with the schools on site whether the offer of the bus company is interesting.That escapes his responsibility, criticizes Schack.

"No solution in sight"

"This is a huge issue for our parents and there is no solution in sight," says Thorsten Muschinski, who chairs the state parents' council for community schools in the state, annoyed. "The fact that our children are crammed into these full buses every day takes the Corona rules ad absurdum."

In other federal states, parent representatives are also sounding the alarm, reports the dpa news agency, among others. The Rhineland-Palatinate state parent spokesman Reiner Schladweiler said he received 12 to 15 complaints a day about the buses. The Hessian State Parents' Council also described the situation as catastrophic.

Schleswig-Holstein's parents' representative Pick hopes that the school authorities will use more buses - but also sees the cost problem. After all, the school authorities would have to invest a lot anyway to implement the hygiene requirements.

Additional buses hardly requested at first

On the other hand, there is the risk that parents will carpool out of fear of full buses - and that children will find themselves in a car across all classes. That would also counteract the strict separation in schools.

In some regions, the number of parent taxis is already increasing, reports the WDR about Dortmund. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia had already taken precautions: the Ministry of Transport will initially cover the costs of additional school buses until the autumn holidays. According to the Omnibus Association, a thousand buses are available for this, the ministry announced.

However, the offer was initially hardly used, apparently because it was hardly known. Christian Gladasch, managing director of the North Rhine-Westphalian bus company association, told the Rheinische Post a good week ago that 80 percent of the contingent had not yet been accessed. After the press report, however, things had moved, Gladasch told SPIEGEL. More and more municipalities got in touch with the association, asking how they could order an additional bus.

Staggered start times can exacerbate the problem

Anke Staar, board member of the State Parents' Conference in North Rhine-Westphalia, does not yet have the impression that much is changing. The buses are still too full. "We demanded that the lessons begin in stages," says Staar. This could also equalize bus traffic. But so far their demands have remained unsuccessful.

However, staggered starting times only make sense if buses run regularly anyway, reports Claudia Pick from Schleswig-Holstein from her own experience. The school bus leaves her in the vicinity of Kiel at 6:45 a.m. - regardless of the fact that her children only have lessons for the second and third hour. "Now pupils from different grades are sometimes waiting in larger groups in front of the gate for lessons to start," she says. "Many problems only become apparent in the practical test."

Transport Minister understands "queasy feeling"

In Saarland, too, those responsible only reacted when the grievances were already there: They understand very well that "a queasy feeling" arises when you see the dense crowd of students in the buses that has been there since school started a week ago, Said the Saarland Transport Minister Anke Rehlinger on Tuesday - and announced that the state would cover the costs of around a hundred additional buses for school transport.

Bremen and Lower Saxony thought about the promotion at least before the school year just started, according to the responses to SPIEGEL inquiries. In the city-state, schools with large catchment areas are to be increasingly checked to see whether masks are worn in local transport. And in both federal states it is possible to stagger school times. So far, however, no more money has been earmarked for transportation in Lower Saxony or Bremen.

Icon: The mirror

Source: spiegel

All life articles on 2020-08-31

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