Obligatory tests for school children in public transport: parents complain about the new regulation - "really lost during the holidays"

Created: 12/25/2021, 06:12 AM

Children and young people also have to follow the 3G rule in public transport - which can be difficult outside of school hours.

© Andreas Arnold / dpa / symbol image

For the Christmas holidays, the federal government has passed a new 3G regulation for local public transport.

Parents of school children criticize the increased effort.

Nuremberg - The federal government's newly adopted 3G regulation for children in local public transport (ÖPNV) during the school holidays causes criticism and perplexity among parents.

Because during regular school operations, it is sufficient for non-vaccinated children and adolescents from the age of six to show their student ID on the bus or train.

The legislature relies on the corona tests * carried out in schools.  

For the Christmas holidays, however, different rules now apply.

Schoolchildren who want to travel by bus or train during this time need a 3G certificate.

In other words: you have to be vaccinated, recovered or tested.

This presents a new hurdle for many parents. 

Getting to the test station in Nuremberg is often a detour 

Several parents report problems with the new regulation. Sabine Holzmann, mother of an eight-year-old daughter, explains to 

that she and her husband are dependent on care for their daughter even during the holidays. The eight-year-old is old enough to take two public transport stops to see relatives or friends. The way to the test station, however, is a long detour, which the mother considers too dangerous. It would have to be accompanied by an adult, which means an enormous amount of time: “For a journey that would otherwise take four to five minutes”.  

The left city councilor Titus Schüller from Nuremberg * agrees with the mother.

He is the father of three sons of pre-school and elementary school age and thinks: “If you have children, no car and no test station around the corner, you are really in a fix during the Christmas holidays.” Schüller also points out that children under the age of twelve “still may not be fully vaccinated ”, which is why they are dependent on tests. 

This is what the Verkehrsverbund Nürnberg says about the 3G regulation for school children 

The Verkehrsverbund Großraum Nürnberg (VGN) itself cannot change the regulation much, as spokesman Manfred Rupp

 explains

to 

.

He understands the frustration, but the public transport companies have to adhere to the requirements of the legislature.  

(By the way: our Nuremberg newsletter regularly informs you about all the important stories from the Franconian metropolis. Register here.)

The VGN only became aware of the problem through a letter from the industry association.

Rupp considers the regulation, which was introduced on December 10 with the tightening of the Infection Protection Act, to be understandable.

The VGN spokesman only criticized the short-term nature and the lack of communication on the part of politicians.  

Corona situation does not allow any other option

Holzmann would consider it a sensible solution to exempt children under the age of twelve from the 3G rule in public transport. Other rules, however, are very useful - such as the mask requirement, the mother told

. Schuller suggests expanding the testing options. The Green Health Officer Britta Walthelm can understand the parents' frustration. “As regrettable as the additional work for the families in this specific case is, extreme caution is required at the moment because of the new Omikron variant. The infectious situation is different than in the summer or autumn holidays. ”And with a well-developed network of over 80 test stations in the city, tests should also be possible for children.

Bavaria's Minister of Health Klaus Holetschek (CSU) does not think much of the regulation.

He would probably handle the situation differently.

But his hands are tied because federal law outstrips the ordinances of the states.

Bavaria could not introduce its own guidelines here.