Interview about the Corona school openings: "I fear that the third wave will roll in if it is loosened too quickly," says GEW boss Marlis Tepe

Sunday, February 21, 2021

School starts on Monday
"We need clear, uniform rules"

On this Monday, primary schools in numerous federal states will start again, mostly as alternating lessons. GEW boss Marlis Tepe accuses the federal states of not implementing their announcements to protect against infection. She also criticizes the fact that since the beginning of the pandemic, the countries have not been able to lay down common rules as to under which conditions which type of teaching is possible. Your union calls for "uniform, clear regulations, on the basis of which decisions are then made in the region," as she said in an interview with ntv.de. "Then relaxations could be implemented on a weekly basis, if possible, or corona measures could be reintroduced if there is another wave."

ntv.de: Before the latest Corona summit from the federal and state governments, you called for alternating lessons in order to reconcile health protection and the right to education. On this Monday, face-to-face classes will start again in many federal states – mostly as alternating classes. Is that an occasion for you to praise the ministers of education?

Marlis Tepe is chairwoman of the Education and Science Union (GEW).

(Photo: picture alliance / dpa)

Marlis Tepe: My praise goes to the Chancellor and the Prime Ministers, because the Ministers of Education wanted classroom instruction at all costs. It is good that the Chancellor has wrested them from changing lessons.

Are there any other measures in the federal states in addition to reducing the size of the classes through alternating lessons?

Unfortunately, the individual federal states proceed very differently. In addition to enforcing the AHAL rules – i.e. distance, hygiene, breathing masks and ventilation – we expect the federal states to take further measures into account. So far, the Robert Koch Institute has recommended that classes be reduced in size by dividing or alternating classes from an incidence value of 50. The point is to enable the distances to be maintained. In any case, this halving of the classes must mean that the pupils do not have to travel to school in overcrowded buses.

We demanded that from the start.

The federal-state conference decided on November 25th that "additional school transport should be used wherever possible".

Unfortunately, that hardly happened. It is also not always ensured that the rooms can be well ventilated. A number of federal states have started using air filters, but unfortunately not all of them do that either. In addition, FFP2 masks are not distributed to teachers in all federal states. Such masks should also be available unbureaucratically for schoolchildren. And of course the test strategy has to be expanded with simple gargle tests. So far this is only an announcement and has not been implemented in all federal states.

Why are there no nationwide uniform rules under which conditions which type of lessons are possible?

The Chancellor would have liked that, I think. But the states insist on their sovereignty in the field of education. This is not understandable for the citizens. We are therefore calling for uniform, clear regulations on the basis of which decisions will then be made in the region. Relaxations could then be implemented on a weekly basis, if possible, or corona measures could be reintroduced if there is another wave. The population would understand it much better if there were clear, uniform, nationwide criteria and then regional action could be taken on site.

From what incidence would you want to allow normal classroom teaching for all age groups?

We are of course not virologists. The Robert Koch Institute has set the 50 mark, from which all grades should start alternating classes. Between 35 and 50, the RKI recommends alternating lessons only for secondary schools and only "optional". The Chancellor and the Prime Ministers have now targeted 35. In this respect, it would make sense to use this incidence value as a brand: accordingly, classroom teaching should only be carried out below this value, with alternating teaching above that. One must not forget: In the individual classes at least 20 to 30 households come together over several hours, plus there are contacts in the schoolyard and on the way to school and home. In my opinion, the RKI would be well advised to reconsider this red line.

How high is the burden for teachers through alternating and distance teaching?

According to all the feedback and surveys, the burden in the pandemic has risen sharply because colleagues have to spend much more time on distance learning than on classroom teaching. The combination of alternating, distance learning and emergency care cannot be achieved.

Federal Health Minister Spahn was asked by the federal and state governments to check whether primary school teachers and educators can be vaccinated earlier than previously planned. Would you like that?

Yes. If the federal states open schools and daycare centers, they have to protect the health of the employees as best as possible, which also includes a higher priority in the vaccination sequence. Educators have to deal with the children very closely – with diaper changing, feeding, comforting. This also applies to the teachers at primary and special schools, who do not keep their distance when working with children and young people and cannot protect themselves. We don't want the individual professional groups to compete for earlier vaccination appointments. But of course we would like educators, social pedagogues and teachers of all types of schools – also in further training – to move up the vaccination priority.

How long do you think the schools that are open now will be able to stay open?

I live in Schleswig-Holstein. In Flensburg, infections with the mutated variant of the virus are almost exclusively found; middle-aged people and children are also in the hospitals. I very much hope that we will be spared school closings. However, I fear that the third wave will roll in if it is relaxed too quickly – and then daycare centers and schools will have to be closed again. This on-off is the worst solution for everyone involved – the right to education for all children and young people cannot be guaranteed in this way.

Hubertus Volmer spoke to Marlis Tepe