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Small box, big argument: air purification device in a primary school class in Oberschleißheim (archive image)
Photo: Florian Peljak / picture alliance / SZ Photo
Markus Söder is annoyed. "We have almost 100,000 classrooms and practice rooms, but the municipalities have only bought or ordered 14,000 filter systems," says Bavaria's Prime Minister and states: "That is not enough." In the event that the situation does not change quickly, he threatened one State instructions to municipalities and school authorities - because they are responsible for the technical equipment of the school buildings.
There is also a lot of sympathy for air filters in schools in federal politics.
"An air filter system must be made available for every classroom in this country," said Green Chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock to the Funke media group.
And Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) says: "Children and young people deserve that it is the top priority that schools can start as normally as possible after the holidays."
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Only: There is currently little evidence of a normal start to the next school year.
A current Reuters survey among the federal states shows that the state governments want to proceed completely differently.
Once again, there is no uniform strategy, as evoked by the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs.
Federal patchwork quilt
After Söders scolding
,
Bavaria
announced that it would assume 50 percent of the device costs for the municipalities.
This would complement corresponding federal programs.
It was not until May 12 that the federal cabinet decided to promote stationary air filters in schools where children under 12 are taught.
The reason: The younger students, unlike the older ones, will not yet be vaccinated in autumn and will therefore be particularly susceptible to corona infections.
According to the Federal Ministry of Economics, 176 applications for the new installation had been received by July 1, and so far 84 commitments with a volume of around 21 million euros have been sent.
Udo Beckmann does not find it surprising that the demand is so weak.
Beckmann is chairman of the Association for Education and Upbringing (VBE), he knows the problems faced by school administrators - and the school authorities.
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Air filters for schools: "After almost 16 months of pandemic, the schools are still in chaos"
The federal government's program sounds tempting, says the VBE boss, after all, up to 80 percent of the costs for air filters would be covered.
"But the remaining 20 percent represent partially insurmountable hurdles for the sponsors of the schools, especially for the over-indebted municipalities. In an ongoing budget there are rarely thousands of euros that can be used flexibly," Beckmann told SPIEGEL.
No general recommendation
In a number of federal states, however, the ministries of culture are also stepping on the brakes. "So far, we are not aware of any scientific statement that says that the use of ventilation systems could safely guarantee classroom teaching even when there is a strong infection," says the Ministry of Education in
Baden-Württemberg
. "Rather, for example, the Federal Environment Agency and the Aerosols Expert Group of the State of Baden-Württemberg come to the conclusion that air filters can be useful as an additional measure, but do not advocate the general use of these devices."
That's right, it says in the Federal Ministry of Health - on the one hand. On the other hand, says Jens Spahn, the whole fight against corona is about minimizing the risk of infection with various measures - and air filters could make a contribution here. And the head of the Robert Koch Institute, Lothar Wieler, complained for months that communities and schools only implemented the RKI recommendations to a limited extent.
However, states like
Saarland
or
Hesse
only want to proceed in stages: The state subsidizes the acquisition of such devices by school authorities "on demand" with four million euros, according to the Ministry of Culture in Saarbrücken. Around 200 classrooms had been equipped with the appropriate equipment by mid-May. Around 480,000 euros of the funding amount had been called up by the school authorities. The situation is similar in the much larger Hesse: The Ministry of Education and Culture announces that of the 75 million euros made available, 40 million have been invested so far. "However, it is only intended and useful where it is not possible to ventilate," it says. This includes, for example, classrooms on the upper floors where the windows cannot be opened.
"The best air purifier is the open window
"
And in a number of federal states, next to nothing happens: In
Lower Saxony,
for example, only one million euros was spent on mobile ventilation devices.
And in
Thuringia
, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt, the debate is being actively slowed down - and reference is made to the Federal Environment Agency: Air purifiers are just one of the measures that school authorities can take, emphasizes the Ministry of Education in Erfurt.
»
The recommendations of the Federal Environment Agency can be summarized as follows: The best air purifier is the open window.
“
Also the Ministry of Education in
Brandenburg
refers to the Federal Environment Agency.
However, each school has received two so-called air quality traffic lights that indicate when it needs to be ventilated - regardless of the actual number of classrooms in the schools.
In
Saxony-Anhalt,
the Ministry of Education expressly warns against the devices: "Incorrectly installed devices and air purifiers with ineffective filters do not lead to increased indoor air safety, but can even worsen the situation," argues the ministry.
Since the devices would no longer be needed after the end of the pandemic, it was also “not a sustainable investment”.
In
Rhineland-Palatinate,
on the other hand, it is said: "Most of our schools have windows ventilated." And then there is reference to the responsibility of the school authorities, who could count on funding of up to 80 percent from the federal program.
Municipalities want money
The patchwork of different regulations in the federal states gives little hope that the start of the school year in autumn will go smoothly. To be on the safe side, the Association of Towns and Municipalities rejects the responsibility of the municipalities for the delayed installation of filter devices in classrooms. "What did not exist was an inventory by the ministers of education and clear expectations of the state governments," says a spokesman on request. It is true that one should not waste time again now - but without financial help from the federal and state governments, the municipalities and school authorities would not be able to cope with this task anyway.
VBE boss Beckmann is annoyed by this shifting of responsibility.
"The ministries of education and their joint coordination body, the Conference of Ministers of Education, are responsible for functioning concepts and infection protection in schools," Beckmann told SPIEGEL.
In addition, other departments would also have to be involved, because the pandemic can ultimately only be defeated with a high vaccination rate - and the Ministry of Health is responsible for this.
This also applies to schools, says Beckmann: "We already know of very high vaccination rates among teachers, but we also need a high level of external protection for those under twelve in families and all contact groups."
him / Reuters