School summit is approaching: the head of the ministerial group warns colleagues - "We can't go on like this"

Created: 01/04/2022, 02:12 PM

From: Florian Naumann

Karin Prien (CDU) chairs the conference of ministers of education during the difficult corona consultations.

© Chris Emil Janssen / www.imago-images.de

What's next for schools in the Omikron wave?

Many parents and students are concerned.

A school summit on Wednesday should bring clarity.

• The Omikron wave now seems to be reaching Germany - politicians want to react this week.

• Before the Corona summit on Friday, the Conference of Ministers of Education (KMK) meets on Wednesday (January 5th).

• The focus is on concerns about school closings.

  The KMK chairwoman Karin Prien expresses herself clearly in advance.

Berlin / Kiel - When it comes to corona policy, things are going in quick succession at the beginning of the year.

On Friday, a summit * will probably decide on new quarantine and possibly also contact regulations.

On Wednesday, another important question for many children, young people and parents in the country will be clarified: What will happen to the schools in the upcoming Omikron wave?

The conference of ministers of education should create clarity *.

Omikron and the schools in Germany: KMK chairwoman is committed to face-to-face teaching

On Tuesday, the chairwoman of the group leaned a little out of the window: Karin Prien (CDU), Minister in Schleswig-Holstein, warned of further closings. "We have to be clear: For children and young people, school closings mean a massive restriction of their development opportunities," warned Prien on the TV broadcaster Phoenix. "We cannot go on like this, and that is also reflected in the current version of the Infection Protection Act."

The Kiel Minister of Education also emphasized that there has so far been no evidence that Omikron is more dangerous for school children than the delta variant of the corona virus.

That is why the schools have to be reopened in regular operation - albeit “responsibly, under strict hygiene measures”.

The professional association of paediatricians (BVKJ) also called on Monday to keep the schools going even with rising corona numbers.

Politicians have promised to consider school closings only as a last resort, BVKJ President Thomas Fischbach told the

: "We are insisting on this promise."

Corona: Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg want to start with face-to-face teaching - one question remains open

Anyway, the signs seem to point to “opening”.

Baden-Württemberg Minister of Education Theresa Schopper (Greens) wants to “stick to the goal of face-to-face teaching” while leaving “flexibility” for the schools.

Her Bavarian counterpart Michael Piazolo (Free Voters) also promised parents and students lessons on site: "We want face-to-face lessons, we had face-to-face lessons, we will start with face-to-face lessons in the next week like other federal states," he emphasized on Monday evening on Bayerischer Rundfunk .

At the same time, Piazolo announced readjustments on one of these days highly controversial topic - the quarantine rules.

"But details always have to be adjusted, especially in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, as far as the quarantine is concerned."

Shorter quarantine for teachers?

Union advocates new regulation before school summit

The Education and Science Union (GEW) is already calling for a shortening of the corona quarantine for teachers.

"Before the holidays, a large number of employees were in quarantine at some schools, which is why distance learning had to take place in some cases," said GEW chairman Maike Finnern to the

.

She would therefore appreciate it if vaccinated and recovered employees without symptoms could shorten the quarantine with a PCR test.

In individual cases, however, distance learning cannot be ruled out.

The expert council of the federal government * could give a hint on Tuesday. The committee will deal with the issue of quarantine, among other things. In Germany, there have recently been concerns about maintaining the critical infrastructure in view of the potentially large numbers of quarantined employees. The Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs on Wednesday will probably also deal with plans for alternating lessons and emergency care - at least that is what Teachers Association President Heinz-Peter Meidinger had demanded before the turn of the year.

After the Christmas break, the students have been back in class since Monday in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Berlin, Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate.

Saarland will follow on Tuesday, Hamburg on Wednesday and - depending on the decision of the schools - Thuringia too.

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