Corona: Court rejects an urgent application by a second grader for classroom teaching

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School in shutdown (in Gelsenkirchen): Initiative does not come through with the demand for face-to-face teaching

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Caroline Seidel / dpa

In North Rhine-Westphalia, a parents' initiative failed to enforce face-to-face lessons for their children in court.

Primary school students also have to continue studying at home instead of in the classroom because of the school closings due to the pandemic.

The Higher Administrative Court in Münster rejected an urgent application to attend school.

The school closings currently ordered for the purpose of infection protection are "probably proportionate in the current situation," said a statement from the court.

In this case, the legislator, that is, the state government, should "give priority to the constitutionally protected health protection of the population, also taking into account the special educational mandate of primary schools".

In North Rhine-Westphalia, face-to-face teaching for all grades and school types has been suspended from January 11th until the end of the month.

A second grader from Cologne had formally appealed to the court as a victim to enforce school attendance.

The mother of the child is involved in an initiative by around ten parents who are resisting school closings, especially for primary school children, as Nicole Reese, spokeswoman for the initiative, told SPIEGEL on the phone.

The rights of children are being neglected in the pandemic, she criticizes.

The younger ones in particular simply cannot be properly trained in distance learning.

Judges recognize "serious" consequences

"Every day I see the suffering associated with the school closings," says Reese, herself a mother of four children, 7, 9, 11 and 13 years old.

"My daughter is also in the second grade and has a video conference three times a week, but it is difficult for her to concentrate longer on studying on the screen." The child is also overwhelmed by working through weekly plans independently.

It needs a lot of encouragement and help.

Your older children could hardly meet friends either.

Because all hobbies have been canceled because of the Corona restrictions, they can hardly get out of the house - "almost as if locked up," says Reese.

She is "disappointed" with the judges' decision.

The mother thinks that they “hardly dealt with our arguments, especially not with the serious consequences for the children”.

In their justification, the Münster judges acknowledged that "the consequences of the closure of the schools for the pupils concerned and their parents are in some cases serious in social, psychological and also economic terms", as the communication states, "However, these would be at least partially cushioned by digital or analogue teaching and learning offers, even if 'learning at a distance', especially with younger students, is not a full equivalent to face-to-face teaching."

Chancellor Angela Merkel and the prime ministers of the federal states decided in mid-December to close schools and daycare centers in Germany to contain the pandemic.

On Tuesday, they extended the highly controversial measure.

The school shutdown should last at least until mid-February and will now be implemented more restrictively than before.

However, the federal states are treading quite different paths in some cases.

In contrast to North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, for example, remains in the alternating model for primary school students.

However, the requirement to be present has been lifted.

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