"Playing with safety": teachers and educators criticize new quarantine regulations for students

Created: 01/08/2022, 06:25 AM

By: Florian Naumann, Patrick Freiwah

A kit for a rapid corona test is on a student's pencil case.

© Matthias Bein / dpa-Zentralbild / dpa / Symbolbild

At the Corona summit, the federal and state governments decided on new quarantine regulations for schoolchildren.

Criticism comes from teachers and educators.

All information in the news ticker.

• At the corona summit of the federal and state governments, new quarantine regulations have been decided.

• The new resolutions also affect schoolchildren.

• After the MPK there are critical voices from teachers and educators

  (update from January 7th, 9:27 pm)

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• This news ticker is updated regularly.

Update from January 7, 9:27 p.m.:

The German Teachers' Association criticizes the planned new regulation of the corona quarantine for schoolchildren.

"If this softening of the quarantine rules leads to more infected people running around unrecognized in schools, the shot will backfire," said Heinz-Peter Meidinger, chairman of the German Teachers' Association, the newspapers of the Funke media group on Friday.

“Free testing” through relatively unsafe antigen tests appears to be problematic, especially because these tests are not as meaningful in the first few days of an infection.

The education union GEW also criticized the decision. "This exposes everyone who is in schools to an increased risk of infection," said GEW deputy chairman Andreas Keller, the Funke newspapers. "Applying rules that are particularly lax in schools is playing with the safety of pupils, teachers and parents," said Keller. "This is a health hazard that is problematic."

Update from January 7th, 4:43 p.m.:

In the press conference after the Corona summit, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) only touched on the topic of schools in passing - the federal and state governments have decided to make a concrete relief for schoolchildren: Unlike other population groups, they can each other Free students from corona quarantine after just five days.

In this way, absenteeism in face-to-face classes is apparently to be reduced.

Schools in focus at the Corona summit: Now even student unions are sounding the alarm - because of "loneliness"

Update from January 7th, 9:50 a.m.:

Will the Corona summit on Friday follow the recommendations of the education ministers?

If so, closing schools will only be a last resort - and quarantine for teachers will be shortened.

Schools should be treated like critical infrastructure when it comes to quarantine, they said.

Meanwhile, even those institutions that take care of a good deal of older learners sounded the alarm: the student services.

"The psychosocial counseling of the student and student services is literally overrun, the waiting times are longer," said the Secretary General of the German Student Union, Matthias Anbuhl, of the dpa.

The federal and state governments urgently need to increase resources in an action program.

Students suffered from a lack of classroom teaching.

"Loneliness, digital isolation and depressive mood are often the result." Anbuhl demanded that universities should remain open as long as possible.

"And in case of doubt that also means: longer than bars, restaurants, football stadiums and other parts of public life."

Corona summit on Friday: What are the federal and state governments planning for schools?

Preliminary report:

Berlin / Munich - the next Corona summit * is due on January 7th.

Against the background of the expected omicron wave, an increase in the number of infections is expected nationwide. 

At the federal-state meeting on Friday, the subject of school also plays an important role.

In advance, representatives of several federal states made it clear that large-scale school closings would not be an option.

School lessons apart from the corona pandemic: What is the next step of the ministries of education?

© Frank Hoermann / SVEN SIMON / Imago

Corona summit on Friday: changes to quarantine in schools are on the way

An important point, however, are simplified quarantine rules *.

Hesse's Minister of Education, Alexander Lorz, called for a reduction in quarantine times with a view to the upcoming Corona crisis discussion: "With 11 million students nationwide and 800,000 teachers across Germany, schools are part of the critical infrastructure that must now be particularly protected," said the CDU -Politicians to the dpa.

For safe face-to-face teaching despite the Omikron variant, everyone should now pull together, according to the coordinator for the CDU-governed countries in the Conference of Ministers of Education (KMK).

A similar statement came from the FDP federal chief and finance minister Christian Lindner.

He has spoken out in favor of moderate contact restrictions.

Everything must be done to prevent schools and companies from closing, he told the dpa on the sidelines of the traditional Liberals' three kings rally.

The education policy spokeswoman for the FDP parliamentary group, Ria Schröder, has also called for Omikron to keep the promise for open schools even if the corona numbers rise sharply.

The virus variant is a great burden because it spreads quickly and the high number of infections scared many people, Schröder told the dpa.

"However, the consequences of school closings are just as dramatic, only psychological and physical stress, domestic violence or learning deficits are initially invisible," she emphasized.

On Friday, the federal and state governments will discuss how to proceed in the pandemic via video conference.

Two days earlier - Wednesday, January 5th - the state ministers of education had exchanged views on how to proceed.

New corona school rules from January 2022?

Hamburg is a prime example

In the middle of the week, classes are already running again in half of the federal states after the Christmas break. In Bavaria and Hesse, school will start again on Monday (January 10th). In Hamburg, the school has started with somewhat stricter infection protection measures: The new Corona school rules in the city-state include three tests per week in the first two weeks of school after the end of the holiday, followed by two tests per week. In addition, employees are only allowed to enter schools if they have been vaccinated, recovered or tested. In addition, masks are still required in all school buildings. To do this, classrooms must be ventilated every 20 minutes. Mobile air filters also play a major role.

Will binding resolutions for the schools be made on Friday?

This is not legally possible because: The education system is completely in the hands of the respective federal states, that is, what is discussed only has the character of an appeal, there can be no obligation to implement it. 

Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) formulated a clear demand before the Bund-Länder-Round.

But a pediatrician criticizes Bavaria's new day-care center rule - and explains the danger posed by the Corona mutation Omikron *.