Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Extends Schools’ Flexibility for Distance Learning Amidst Illness

Schwerin (dpa / mv) – The schools in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania can continue to switch to partial or complete distance learning independently in the event of many cases of illness among the teachers. The Ministry of Education in Schwerin extended the so-called phase model until the end of this school year, according to a statement on Wednesday.

Initially, the regulation conceived during the corona pandemic should only remain in force until the Easter holidays, which ended on Wednesday. With the extension, the school management can now continue to act flexibly in order to secure lessons in the event of increased sick leave from teachers.

The Education and Science Union (GEW) welcomed the extension. This model is intended to flexibly counter acute waves of illness. “This was what the school management wanted and was supported by the Education and Science Union in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania,” said Nico Leschinski, head of GEW. Especially in terms of the independent school, it is necessary for school management to be able to act quickly if several teachers are ill at the same time and bottlenecks arise.

On Thursday, lessons began again for the 160,000 students at the general schools in MV. The final exams will start soon.

The written exams for the Abitur begin on April 26 with the subject German. The first intermediate school-leaving exam is also scheduled for June 2 in German. With a view to the after-effects of the corona pandemic, the state has specified the material relevant to the exam again this year, as it was said. In addition, the students would have 30 minutes more time per exam.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:230412-99-291464/3