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Lessons in Bavaria (archive)
Photo: Matthias Balk / dpa
If the education ministers of the federal states have their way, the schools should not have to be closed again due to Corona in the future.
It is "essential to keep the schools open and to secure the classroom teaching permanently," it says in a decision that the ministers took on Friday after deliberations in Potsdam.
The Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK) also advocated that the health authorities should be as cautious as possible with their quarantine policy.
Even if the mask requirement is largely abolished, only the actually infected people or their close contacts should be sent to quarantine.
KMK President Britta Ernst said: »The schools must remain open in order to provide the best educational opportunities for all children and young people.
It is also important that as many adults as possible show solidarity and get vaccinated.
Only in this way can the pupils continue to have a normal everyday school life. "
In the current school year, despite the pandemic and the delta variant, it was possible to ensure full and continuous face-to-face teaching in all countries.
The right of children and young people to education, leisure activities and get-togethers is largely guaranteed without restrictions.
However, the first schools had to close again because there were corona outbreaks there.
For example, classes at a grammar school in Görlitz and at a grammar school in Löbau are currently completely canceled, as reported by the »Sächsische Zeitung«.
The RKI also announced in its weekly report that there had been an increasing number of corona outbreaks at daycare centers and especially at schools since August.
The corona outbreaks in schools are therefore increasing earlier than in the previous year.
Whether, when and where masks have to be worn in schools is basically regulated by the federal states themselves. Recently, some federal states had completely or partially lifted the mask requirement.
The Education and Science Union (GEW) and the German Teachers' Association reject the relaxation of the mask requirement in schools.
Majority for the abolition of the mask requirement in the classroom
The majority of Germans (57 percent), however, have spoken out in favor of the abolition of the mask requirement in class, as the ARD Germany trend showed.
Only four out of ten Germans (37 percent) and 27 percent of parents of school-age children are in favor of retaining it.
The federal states also decide when and how often the students have to be tested.
The ministers' decision is accordingly openly formulated: "In order to maintain the security that has been gained for school operations, the regular tests for schoolchildren can be continued until further notice." At the same time, they appeal to adults to be vaccinated and recommend it Students from the age of twelve.
kha / dpa