Magdeburg (dpa/sa) – The corona pandemic has significantly restricted the possibilities for international student exchanges. After there were 82 trips with around 1400 students to foreign partner schools in Saxony-Anhalt in 2019, the exchange has come to a virtual standstill in the past two years, according to figures from the Ministry of Education in Magdeburg. In 2020, most trips had to be canceled. By the beginning of March, just seven trips with 138 schoolchildren had taken place. In 2021, no applications were made due to the corona, it said. Visits to partner schools usually last 5 to 9 days.
In the 2020/21 school year there was also a double-digit number of leave of absence because students individually attended schools abroad. According to ministry figures, 14 young people were given leave for half a year and 74 for a whole school year. The individual exchanges would have taken the students to the USA, Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, France and Australia. School sponsorships exist with 17 schools in France and 11 in Russia, and there are also connections to Poland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and the USA. There are also exchange destinations in Argentina, China, Georgia, Japan and Vietnam.
The desire to go abroad is already there among the students, said the chairman of the state student council, Moritz Eichelmann, of the German Press Agency. But many were slowed down by the pandemic. From the 17-year-old’s point of view, there was also a lot of uncertainty, since every country had different entry regulations due to the pandemic. That also made it much more difficult for teachers to organize exchanges, says Eichelmann. As a result, a lot of personal experience fell by the wayside.
But it’s not just German students who have hardly ever gone abroad – significantly fewer foreign students have also come to Saxony-Anhalt as part of an exchange. According to the ministry, around 950 students from 64 foreign partner schools were still visiting their German partners in the pre-Corona year 2019. In 2020 most exchanges had to be cancelled. By the beginning of March, 58 foreign guest students had arrived. Last year there was only one exchange with four students from France.
According to the ministry, exchanges can currently be planned in principle – both trips abroad and the reception of guests. However, there is currently a great deal of reluctance in the schools due to the lack of planning security. The reason for this is in particular the changing legal requirements in connection with the corona pandemic in Germany and in the respective target countries.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220212-99-91021/3
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