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Lessons in the classroom: The KMK wants to stick to this for as long as possible (symbolic picture)
Photo: Angelika Warmuth / DPA
Motto "Keep it up": Germany's ministers of education are sticking to their position, even in the face of rising corona numbers.
The schools should remain as open as possible.
"The right to education of children and adolescents can best be realized in face-to-face lessons", says a joint decision of the 16 education ministers, which was published on Tuesday - one day before further deliberations by Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Prime Minister of the Countries on further pandemic measures.
As places of social interaction, schools are also of crucial importance for the development of children and young people, writes the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK).
"This must be the top priority in all decisions about restrictive measures to be taken due to increasing numbers of infections."
KMK President Stefanie Hubig emphasized that the nationwide infection numbers in schools are currently in the per mille range and are therefore at a comparatively low level.
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and the situation on site, it is becoming apparent that children and younger adolescents are less affected and are not the drivers of the pandemic.
Hubig explained: "We all have to limit ourselves in our private lives, have to forego celebrations, meetings with friends and perhaps hobbies so that our children and young people can get the education they deserve."
"We all have to limit ourselves in private"
During the nationwide lockdown in spring, all schools in Germany were closed for weeks.
Only gradually did they return to teaching in the shift system, in the alternating model.
Parents and teachers' associations have agreed with a number of experts and politicians, including Merkel, that this should now be avoided as far as possible.
Shortly before the chancellor switch with the Prime Minister, Saxony's state chief Michael Kretschmer confirmed that daycare centers and schools would remain open after the consultations on Wednesday.
In individual corona hotspots, for example in Bavaria, the first schools have been closed again in the past few days, or lessons run in shifts.
It is also highly controversial whether the previous hygiene measures in schools are sufficient or can even be implemented across the board.
Some parents and teachers' associations have been urging more protection against infection for weeks - and binding guidelines from the KMK.
Among other things, they criticize the fact that the ministers have not yet agreed on a common line for implementing the RKI recommendations for schools.
These provide for a return to the switch model within seven days of around 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants.
However, the education ministers apparently still did not want to commit to a nationwide uniform procedure and stricter hygiene rules depending on the number of cases.
The decision paper states: The situation still requires "to react sensitively to the infection process locally, regionally and nationwide".
Hubig explained that the ministers had agreed to "continue to carefully monitor the infection situation and collect all the figures regularly".
"Softened compromise"
Sharp criticism came from the German Teachers' Association.
President Heinz-Peter Meidinger called the KMK declaration "largely meaningless and insubstantial".
"It does not give any answers to the pressing questions about how to react in schools to the rapidly increasing number of infections in Germany," said Meidinger, who is himself the head of a high school in Bavaria.
The Association of Education and Upbringing (VBE) described the KMK resolution as a "softened compromise".
It is "adventurous" that there is a reaction to the threatening situation in all areas of society, but the transnational consensus of the KMK does not offer any news.
"That opens the door and gate for the procedure that we see in many places: Lessons are continued without looking at the infection situation," warned VBE chairman Udo Beckmann.
With all the support for the right to education, those who teach and want to learn in risk areas need "more protection against infection than airing once more per hour".
Beckmann again called for a return to teaching in small groups: "Because we too want schools to remain open."
However, many parents and professionals also want to avoid the changeover model for as long as possible because children and young people are only schooled on a daily or weekly basis.
Parent initiatives warn that children from socially disadvantaged families in particular are at risk of being left behind.
The German Child Protection Association also said on Tuesday that the closure of daycare centers and schools must be the last resort, unlike in the first lockdown.
Closing daycare centers and schools again would put a considerable strain on parents, especially mothers, said Child Protection Association President Heinz Hilgers.
"The children's rights to education and support are then no longer guaranteed."
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