corona pandemic
Prien: Allegation of contamination is “simply wrong”
Many children become infected with the corona virus at school. Photo: Sebastian Gollnow/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Is contamination taking place in schools? Representatives of a student initiative had complained in an open letter. Now the President of the Conference of Ministers of Education has spoken.
The President of the Conference of Ministers of Education (KMK), Karin Prien, has rejected the accusation of a “policy of contamination” at schools.
“We still rely on strict hygiene measures, on compulsory testing, on masks. The accusation is simply wrong, »said the CDU politician of the «world». In an open letter of complaint, representatives of the “WirWerdenLaut” student initiative had accused politicians of a “contamination plan” and called for a suspension of compulsory attendance, smaller learning groups, PCR pool tests and air filters in all schools.
Prien, who is also Schleswig-Holstein’s Minister of Education, had already exchanged views with representatives of the initiative on Tuesday. Nothing was known about specific content. The students would have liked a regular exchange beyond the federal student conference.
Criticism of Prien’s tweet
Prien also regretted in the “Welt” that she had upset affected parents with her request for differentiation in the cause of death of children who died with or because of the corona virus. “I am very sorry that there are obviously single parents with vulnerable children who do not feel that they are sufficiently seen in their difficult situation in this debate. When it says that I have no sympathy for their situation, it hurts me. And it is by no means the case, »said Prien.
A statement by the KMK President in connection with the corona pandemic had previously caused a stir on Twitter. A user wrote there of 65 corona-infected, deceased children in four and a half months. Prien replied on Friday evening: “Please differentiate: children are dying. This is extremely tragic. But they die with COVID_19 and extremely rarely because of COVID_19.”
Prien’s answer was followed by numerous – sometimes insulting – reactions. Many accused the politician of lack of empathy and demanded an apology. The hashtag #Prienruecktret trended. Prien then temporarily deactivated her Twitter account.