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"We have to keep schools open as long as possible"

2020-10-23T18:13:10.434Z


In Germany, the number of infections is increasing, and some are worried that schools could close again. Scientists warn and criticize: Germany has learned too little from the pandemic.


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Empty classrooms: experts warn of new school closings (symbolic image)

Photo: Fabian Sommer / picture alliance / dpa

Nobody wants it to happen like this, but the possibility is in the air: Will schools in Germany be closed again on a larger scale in view of the increasing numbers of infections?

This has long been the case in isolated cases.

Homeschooling is currently back in fashion in the Corona hotspot Berchtesgaden in Bavaria.

The district has closed schools and daycare centers - and thus awakened bad memories for many students, parents and teachers also outside the region: of the nationwide school closings in the spring, the consequences of which many are still short of today.

A renewed, nationwide lockdown must be avoided as far as possible, warned OECD Education Director Andreas Schleicher and other scientists this Friday.

In an online debate entitled "Children need school", they took the side of the ministers of education in the dispute over corona rules and infection protection in schools that had been going on for weeks.

The politicians have already declared further face-to-face teaching to be "top priority".

"It remains to be seen whether it will always work that way," said Schleicher, "but yes, we have to keep the schools open as long as possible."

"Those who are less educated can be less productive."

Suitable hygiene concepts are necessary for this, but they exist.

If children do not go to school but meet people in less regulated contexts, the risk of infection may even be greater.

In the past few weeks it has also been learned that children and adolescents can also keep their distance and may wear masks.

The education expert calculated what social and economic consequences the previous school closings and weeks of lessons in shifts could have: "Those who are less educated can be less productive."

This will affect the economies of the OECD countries, but also the earning potential of individuals.

"The learning losses can probably be equated with three percent lost life income, on average," said Schleicher.

Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln, Professor of Macroeconomics and Development at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, comes to slightly different conclusions.

Studies from the USA show that if you miss a lesson, you may lose one percent of your income.

"Little learned"

The experts agree: The socially weakest children at the lower end of the performance spectrum would be hit disproportionately, especially those who had no help at home or at school.

In the course of the corona crisis, various studies had shown that teaching at a distance increased the inequality of opportunity, which was already pronounced in Germany.

According to Schleicher, this can hardly be compensated for: "It is difficult to make up for learning losses."

Sociologist Jutta Allmendinger also warned that some children have seen their television consumption increased significantly, that they exercise less without a way to school and school sports, and that their motor skills are slowly declining, said the President of the Berlin Social Science Center.

Because there is no school lunch, "some children have to put a pizza in the oven for themselves".

Healthy nutrition suffers - and without classmates and teachers, social learning too.

Even more serious: children are more often threatened by domestic violence.

Allmendinger also referred to the "immense burden" of working parents, especially mothers and single parents.

You have to talk about "all these big dimensions that the topic includes", said the sociologist and was not very optimistic about future crisis management with a view to children, adolescents and women in the pandemic: "What worries me most", she said, "that we have learned so little from the past seven to eight months".

"Children are not the engine of the pandemic"

Johannes Huebner, Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, countered the ongoing concerns that schools could become virus-spreaders in the corona crisis: "I am not saying that schools are safe areas, but there are none. In any case, according to several studies, children are not the main engine of the pandemic, but they suffered the most from the beginning "- for example through the school closings.

In the event that distance or hybrid lessons should come up again, experts believe that many schools are not adequately prepared for digital learning.

"Germany has a lot of catching up to do," said Schleicher.

The hybrid teaching offers great opportunities, even without Corona.

"Learning is not tied to a place, but an activity."

Either way, from the point of view of the experts this time - unlike in spring - school closings should only be the last resort to contain the number of infections.

First, in Huebner's view, adults have to make sacrifices for the next generation - not the other way around.

"It must not be that cinemas or restaurants, for example, remain open - and schools are closed," demanded the doctor.

Will that work?

In the case of Berchtesgaden, many parents were surprised that daycare centers and schools are closed, but churches, for example, remain open and services continue to take place.

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Source: spiegel

All life articles on 2020-10-23

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