Sobering result after a week without a mask in class

For a week in NRW no mask has to be worn on the seats in the classroom.

The balance sheet is mixed: joy, but also worries, uncertainty, criticism.

The student council speaks of fatal consequences.

Düsseldorf - After a school week in North Rhine-Westphalia without a mask requirement at the seat in the classroom, the balance is sobering.

In many places it is reported that students still put on their mouth and nose protection.

The state parents' conference creates uncertainty.

The state student council complains about lost hours and in some cases also a renewed switch to online lessons.

The Philologists' Association fears that precedent classes without a strict mask requirement will soon have to be given up again as the number of infections increases.

"Most of the students kept their masks on," said Johanna Börgermann from the NRW state student council of the German press agency.

Frustration and worries about health are great.

Since the mask requirement was dropped on November 2nd, "fatal consequences" have already become apparent.

For example, pregnant teachers are no longer allowed to teach face-to-face at their grammar school, said Börgermann.

Two advanced math courses would therefore be merged into one.

Sometimes you are back to online lessons.

Lessons are canceled in the lower grades because teachers should close gaps in the upper grades.

The student representative demanded: "We need an adaptation of the learning content and exam content, but not a week-long discussion about a mask requirement."

After more than a year, the obligation on the seats has been abolished since last Tuesday.

Pupils still have to wear the mouth and nose protection in the rest of the building - and also put them on when they leave their permanent place.

The parents give the whole range of joy, worry, criticism, said the LEK chairman Anke Staar of the dpa. "Some school administrators wrote to the parents and asked them to be considerate and continue to wear the masks voluntarily." Others were relieved and "happy to be able to look into the faces of the children again". Basically, in view of the increasing number of infections, "a renewed growing uncertainty" is noticeable.

The expiry of the mask requirement does not fit with the commitment of the school ministry to face-to-face teaching, criticized the philologists' association, which represents the high school teachers.

With the mask off at the square, the quarantine regulations have been tightened.

This inevitably leads to more quarantine cases in schools and consequently means that students have to go back to distance learning.

"They lose more valuable time for face-to-face teaching," criticized spokesman Olaf Steinacker.

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The Association of Education and Upbringing spoke of a rather calm week. “The mood ranges from joy to more personal exchange to worrying about one's own health. Some are relieved to have taken off the mask at the seat, others cannot understand the decision based on the current data, ”reported VBE state chairman Stefan Behlau. "Ultimately, the mask is less of a burden compared to quarantine or the absence of lessons."

From the school ministry in Düsseldorf it was said that there was no reason to question the new regulation again.

"Nonetheless, the state government continues to monitor the infection process in North Rhine-Westphalia very closely." School Minister Yvonne Gebauer (FDP) affirmed that the relaxation was "responsible".

Schools are still safe places.

Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) told the “Rheinische Post” (Saturday): “If we notice that the infection process in schools is particularly abnormal, the state government will react appropriately.” Dpa