Goodbye to masks on the seats in the classroom - the relaxation of the corona requirements in the NRW schools from Tuesday should please some students.
But there is also criticism and concern.
Düsseldorf - With mixed feelings, classes in many schools in North Rhine-Westphalia began on Tuesday without mouth and nose protection.
After more than a year of wearing a mask, it will now be abolished on the seats in the classroom on November 2nd in North Rhine-Westphalia.
"We are a bit divided," said the director of a comprehensive school in Münster.
The state parents' conference in North Rhine-Westphalia spoke of risks and a division in schools.
For the student body, the relaxation means a great deal of relief, explained the director of the Münster Mitte comprehensive school, Kathrin Kösters.
"But because the number of infections is so high, I have a strange gut feeling overall." So far, however, there have been no stressful corona cases at her school.
You will continue to test three times a week and strictly adhere to all precautionary measures.
However, pupils still have to wear mouth and nose protection in the rest of the building or put them on when they leave their permanent seat.
The mask requirement for outside areas had been abolished some time ago.
There is no obligation for teachers as long as a minimum distance of 1.5 meters can be maintained.
You assume that many schools will also use the relaxation in the classroom, said the chairman of the State Parents' Conference (LEK), Anke Staar, the German press agency.
But probably not all schools would take this step.
It is conceivable that some rely on voluntary action or that other schools completely prohibit mouth and nose protection at the seat.
"The mask theme divides our society and there is also a division in schools."
Mouth and nose protection is uncomfortable and difficult, especially for younger students. But Staar criticized: After the mask had been touted for many months by School Minister Yvonne Gebauer (FDP) as an important means of protecting students and teachers, it was suddenly said that schools were safe even without mouth and nose protection. And that despite rising infection levels.
The LEK state chairwoman pointed out that there is no vaccination option for children under the age of twelve. According to Staar, falling masks in the classroom is dangerous, especially for a vulnerable group of previously ill schoolchildren who will not be able to be vaccinated in the future for medical reasons. “This minority does not seem to care about politics.” Despite all the assurances in the pandemic, schools are not yet sufficiently safe. It is irresponsible to refer to continuous ventilation in the coming cold months.
Extended quarantine rules have also been in effect since Tuesday.
If a corona case occurs in a class, the quarantine is extended to the demonstrably infected person and now also to the person sitting next to them.
Students who have been vaccinated or recovered without symptoms are still exempt from isolation.
The Ministry of Education justified the expiry of the mask requirement at the seat by saying that there was no excessive increase in corona infections in schools.
The vaccination rate is also increasing and is already over 90 percent for teachers.
The new Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst (CDU) had emphasized as a “philosophy”: “As much protection as necessary and as much freedom as possible.” Numerous associations had criticized the relaxation as too risky and premature.
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The SPD parliamentary group requested a current hour in the state parliament.
"Removal of the mask requirement with increasing incidence - premature, risky and dangerous!", It said in the application.
Masks remained a central means of protecting children and adolescents, who are already particularly at risk from Corona, especially since regular ventilation of the classrooms becomes increasingly difficult in the cold season, the application said.
dpa