Icon: enlarge
Lessons in the classroom: According to judges, asthma is not an obstacle (symbol image)
Photo: Britta Pedersen / picture alliance / dpa
In Rhineland-Palatinate, a student suffering from asthma failed to file a lawsuit against the obligation to attend classroom classes despite the corona crisis.
A right to exemption cannot be derived from the basic right to life and physical integrity, said the administrative court in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse.
The constitution does not guarantee complete protection from all health threats.
As a boarding school student, the young person attends a class of highly gifted students in a grammar school in Kaiserslautern.
In mid-September, he applied for exemption from face-to-face teaching and instead wanted to learn through distance learning.
He suffered from bronchial asthma and therefore belongs to a risk group for the disease Covid-19, the student explained his concern.
Some of his relatives also have significant previous illnesses.
The hygiene concept of his school does not do justice to the health risks.
Since he attended a school for the gifted, he was used to independent learning, argued the student.
He is well integrated into the class community and can maintain contacts in the meantime.
In addition, he feels that he is at risk on public transport on the way from his home further away to school.
However, the court did not accept any of this.
The risk of infection is not reduced to zero
Even taking into account a medical certificate, the student had not sufficiently proven that he was not "capable of going to school".
In the certificate, a diagnosis is mentioned and a "special training" is required, but without clarifying what is meant by this.
In addition, the fact that a student does not take part in on-site lessons to protect his relatives is only "possible in very limited exceptional cases," said the judges.
According to the Federal Constitutional Court, a "certain risk of infection for the entire population is currently part of the general life risk" due to the pandemic.
Despite a consistently implemented hygiene concept, the risk of infection will not be reduced to zero, the judges said.
They alleged that the school in question had taken measures to protect its students from infection.
more on the subject
+++ News-Update +++: NRW is re-introducing a mask requirement for pupils in class
Corona crisis: Dispute over protective measures and possible school closings
Rising corona numbers: Teachers' Association calls for a return to operation with half classes in hotspots
Compliance with the minimum distance of 1.5 meters in the classroom is ensured.
In any case, the room with a size of 60 square meters with a class size of only 15 students is extremely advantageous in terms of the risk of infection according to general assessment.
An appeal against the decision can be lodged with the Higher Administrative Court of Rhineland-Palatinate in Koblenz.
Icon: The mirror
focus / AFP