corona pandemic
“Schools are not safe places to learn”: teachers’ association warns of empty classrooms in autumn
There could not be close class contacts like this in autumn. Due to the pandemic, further school closures are threatened
© Marijan Murat / DPA
The German Teachers’ Association fears that schools will be closed again in the fall. There is a lack of staff, and politicians have not taken any precautionary measures. Association representatives are therefore again expecting classrooms to be closed.
The Education and Training Teachers’ Association (VBE) has warned of renewed school closures in autumn. “It is with great concern that we note that, even in the third year of the pandemic, politicians, against their better knowledge, have not yet managed to prepare the schools for the expected increase in the incidence of infections in autumn,” said Udo Beckmann, chairman of the association, to the editorial network Germany ( RND, Monday).
School closure due to lack of protective measures
“Schools are still not safe places to learn and run the risk of having to be closed again in the coming school year,” Beckmann continued. The “staff cover, which has been thinned out for a long time anyway” alone will quickly become a problem if the number of infections rises again.
At the same time, politicians have not taken any significant measures to create the conditions for safe face-to-face teaching in schools. In particular, the VBE President demanded that “the timely reintroduction of a mask requirement should not be a taboo subject”.