Extreme lack of space: High school sends students to homeschooling because of return to G9

Created: 07/12/2022 15:56

By: Christina Hein

Alternative school location: The old main post office will not be ready for occupancy until the second half of the school year in 2023.

Until then, it is also planned that students will learn from home, i.e. in homeschooling.

© Axel Schwarz

A lack of space at two high schools in Kassel causes problems.

The criticism from the teachers is great.

There is talk of "a lack of care in the city".

Kassel - Now it's official: The alternative school location Alte Hauptpost in Kassel, where students from the Albert-Schweitzer-School and Friedrichsgymnasium are to be taught, will not be ready for occupancy until February 2023.

This is important because both schools will each have to admit an additional year in the coming school year in already cramped conditions.

The reason is the return from the shortened Abitur G8 to G9.

This process is now complete.

The third grammar school in Kassel to be affected by this change is the Goethe-Gymnasium.

In the medium term, there is the possibility of using rooms that have become free in the building because the evening school located there is moving to the Hessenkolleg site, as reported by hna.de.

Schools in Kassel: the old main post office will only be ready for occupancy in 2023 - offers from specialist companies are difficult to obtain

Stadtbaurat Christof Nolda told the HNA: "The old main post office will not be ready for occupancy until the second half of the school year." It is not easy to get offers from specialist companies.

The negotiations with the owners are more advanced, the construction processes are being discussed.

For the high schools, this news means not only moving closer together in the school buildings, but also that some students have to study at home at times.

"We assume that each class works one day at home three or four times a semester," says Markus Crede, headmaster of the ASS.

Year 5 and the Abitur year are excluded.

The FG handles this in a similar way.

Headmaster Lothar Schöppner also went on his own to look for suitable places where teachers and students could go on a daily basis.

According to Schöppner, there was a "certain horror" among the parents when they found out that the old main post office was not available for the next half-year.

The students are also alarmed: ASS head boy Julius Jasperbrinkmann fears that both school communities will suffer: "Homeschooling does not ensure good, appropriate teaching."

Lack of space in schools in cash registers: union of high school teachers with clear criticism

Initially, in order to solve the space problem at ASS and FG, schooling in temporary replacement buildings was discussed, but this was soon rejected by the city.

The search for a suitable location within walking distance of both schools began.

The Alte Hauptpost location became known in May.

Sharp criticism of the fact that the schools are suffering from an extreme lack of space comes from the North Hesse district association of the Hessian Philologists' Association, the trade union for high school teachers.

The chairman Boris Krüger speaks of "a lack of care by the city of Kassel for the students of three high schools".

For years, the looming catastrophe has been pointed out, that due to an additional year due to the change from G 8 to G 9 after the summer holidays, over 300 students from the ASS, FG and Goethe-Gymnasium will be without rooms.

From the point of view of the philologists' association, "the failures of the last eight years, in which the problem was known to all those responsible in politics, but was postponed year after year, are taking revenge." It doesn't look any better for the Goethe-Gymnasium.

Although rooms will be freed up here when the evening school moves out, they could not be used immediately either, says Krüger.

The 177,000 euros required for the renovation were only included in the city budget for 2023, as the new debt officer Nicole Maisch (Greens) had to admit at the most recent city council meeting.

"Out of negligence, if not deliberately," a problem was left to slide for years.

(Christina Hein)