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Air filter at a high school in Oldenburg, Lower Saxony
Photo: Hauke-Christian Dittrich / dpa
Who is to blame for the schools' slow preparations for the new school year?
For the Association of Towns and Municipalities, the answer is clear: It misses a tailwind from politics.
In view of the rapid spread of the delta variant of the corona virus, the retrofitting of the schools should now be tackled immediately, says General Manager Gerd Landsberg.
"With a view to the time after the summer vacation, the necessary organizational and spatial conditions must be created in the schools as quickly as possible in order to prevent them from being closed again," Landsberg told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
"This is all the more urgent as the majority of children do not fall under the Stiko vaccination recommendation."
However, a recommendation from the Standing Vaccination Commission would only partially solve the problem, Landsberg said.
Because no vaccine has yet been approved for schoolchildren under the age of twelve or for daycare children.
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Landsberg emphasized that the situation at the individual schools is very different, "so that there is no one-size-fits-all solution".
In individual cases, it could help to convert existing windows to enable cross ventilation.
Ventilation concepts could also be optimized or larger classrooms created.
"Since these are corona-related costs, the municipalities, as school authorities, also expect appropriate financial support from the federal and state governments," Landsberg explained.
However, he warned against bureaucratic and time-consuming funding programs: "We have to keep realizing that we are still in a race with the virus and that we therefore have no time to lose."
There is also increasing pressure from parents on politicians to take quick action for the coming school year.
"The parents are at the attack," says Franz-Josef Kahlen from the parents' initiative Mobile Raumluftfilter NRW: "After almost 16 months of pandemic, there is still chaos in the schools."
Kahlen demanded a political signal to the municipalities that the purchase of mobile room air filters will be supported with immediate effect.
Individual countries are already reacting to the ongoing debate.
The Bavarian cabinet decided on Tuesday to reimburse the municipalities for 50 percent of the cost of air purifiers in classrooms.
All classrooms in the Free State should be equipped with air filters by autumn - but it is not yet clear which devices will be funded at all.
him / AFP