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Mask in the school yard: The federal government demands mouth and nose protection for all age groups, including in class
Photo: Gregor Fischer / dpa
The outrage on the part of some Prime Ministers in front of the switch with Chancellor Angela Merkel about possible tightening of the corona protection measures was great: The Federal Chancellery is rushing forward with proposals.
It was agreed that the partial shutdown would take effect before further measures were taken.
The proposals for schools in particular caused anger.
The topic is very sensitive.
The majority of the countries currently do not want to change the regulations in schools, it was said in the run-up to the deliberations.
There was the draft resolution of the federal government, which called for new tightening, but already in the world.
The political priority therefore continues to apply: schools and daycare centers should in principle be kept open in the pandemic.
However, the federal government now sent a big but afterwards:
The mask requirement should apply to schoolchildren of all ages and to teachers also for the lessons.
The classes should either be taught in rooms twice as large or halved so that the distance can be maintained.
The groups should not meet, either in the school building or on the school bus.
Before the meeting with Merkel, the prime ministers apparently managed to change the draft resolution.
Decisions should therefore only be made at the next meeting on November 23rd.
For the proposals this means: they will most likely be re-submitted.
Mask compulsory for everyone
The regulations in the federal states have so far been different: While elementary school children in Bavaria and Schleswig-Holstein already have to wear masks in class, in Thuringia there is no mask requirement in class, even for the older age groups.
Most federal states prescribe it at least from grade 5 or 7.
The mask requirement is particularly controversial for primary school students.
In addition to factual criticism that the duty for the little ones is disproportionate and makes teaching more difficult, for example because the facial expressions are missing, comprehensibility or concentration is suffering, there are conspiracy theorists who, despite all the facts, report health risks and deaths from the mask.
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The president of the professional association of paediatricians, Thomas Fischbach, told the "Welt" last week that there is basically no health risk associated with a mouth and nose cover for healthy children from the age of two.
»The complaints we hear about are a subjective discomfort - which we also have as adults.
But they are not dangerous or even life-threatening. ”Nevertheless, only children from the age of six should wear masks if this is epidemiologically necessary.
However, epidemiologists are also inconsistent in their judgments on the question, which not least has to do with the fact that it is still not conclusively clarified which role children play in the transmission of the virus.
However, figures from the RKI on the incidence of infections in children are worrying.
Accordingly, more than 10,400 corona infections were reported in children under 14 years of age in the first week of November.
At the beginning of September there were fewer than 1,000 infections per week.
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The numbers worry experts at the RKI and could help decide whether the federal and state governments will decide to make mask compulsory in schools.
So far, the federal states have hesitated.
Few of them, like Bayern Markus Söder, advocated extending the mask requirement to primary schools in general.
The tenor among the Prime Ministers is: first of all, wait and see what the partial shutdown has brought at the beginning of November and what role the schools have played.
The demand, which Federal Education Minister Anja Karliczek has already repeatedly expressed, is not yet off the table.
Halve classes or double the size of the room, strictly separate groups
Parents and teacher associations, but also, for example, SPD leader Saskia Esken, have been calling for the model for a long time, and at the weekend the federal student conference also spoke out in favor of it: the classes should be divided and taught alternately at home and at school.
The RKI recommends it as the number of infections increases.
This alternation model, also known as hybrid lessons, should at least be offered to older age groups or high-performing students, according to parents' representatives.
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Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder also pleaded on Monday in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin” to think about alternative models.
In many federal states such as Schleswig-Holstein, North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, the project is rejected.
"Such suggestions sound good in theory, but are hardly feasible in practice," Schleswig-Holstein's Prime Minister Daniel told SPIEGEL at the weekend.
“When you split classes, you need a lot more teachers.
Where should they come from?
And we don't have any new rooms. "
North Rhine-Westphalia's Family Minister Joachim Stamp also rejected the proposal as not feasible due to a lack of staff.
"I cannot imagine that the prime ministers would decide something that could only be implemented if we cancel around half of the lessons," said Stamp.
Since the pressure is no longer only growing from parents and teachers, but also from federal politics, these demands are likely to be resubmitted.
The suggestion of the Kiel educational researcher and psychologist Olaf Köller is worth considering.
He recommends teaching at least older students who no longer need to be looked after completely digitally.
Not just for a few weeks, but in the long term until the end of March.
This would mean that more rooms would be available for the lower age groups.
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When it comes to digital teaching, however, it is questionable whether schools, teachers and families are adequately prepared for it, regardless of whether it is alternating or complete.
Various studies have confirmed that Germany is lagging behind when it comes to digitizing schools and equipping pupils and teachers.
The digital pact and funds specially made available because of the pandemic are intended to help, but in many places it will take time before the technology is actually available.
Separate groups strictly, in school as well as on the bus
Parents have long complained about the absurdity: while the children are supposed to keep their distance at school, they squeeze in the bus like sardines.
Some federal states have therefore made funds available for additional buses, but the problem persists in many places.
It was not until the beginning of November that transport companies asked again to stagger the starting times for the start of lessons so that buses and trains become emptier.
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However, the idea only works in cities with regular transport services.
In rural areas, school buses usually don't run often enough to switch to a later bus.
Lessons also for students in quarantine
The last demand in the Federal Government's original draft resolution did not provide for a tightening, but a promise: Even pupils who are in quarantine are entitled to lessons.
In theory, the federal states also see it that way, but in practice there are lessons canceled due to quarantine measures.
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"Schoolchildren who are in quarantine have the feeling that they are being forgotten," said Dario Schramm, General Secretary of the Federal Schoolchildren Conference, in front of the Prime Minister's switch with Merkel.
Therefore, the Federal Schoolchildren Conference is calling for concepts that guarantee learning success for these students as well.
According to a spokesman for the Conference of Education Ministers, there are currently almost 200,000 schoolchildren in quarantine.
This corresponds to around 1.8 percent of all students.
So far, 18,298 (0.17 percent) have been infected with the corona virus.
Of the teachers, 3798 were infected (0.42 percent), 13,101 (1.46 percent) are currently affected by quarantine measures.
106 schools (0.37 percent) in Germany are currently completely closed, 4074 schools (14 percent) partially.
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With material from dpa / AFP