When it comes to school closings, politicians have learned a lot from the pandemic, and many people agree on that. But how can protection against infection and the right to education be reconciled? In this debate, the tone is sharper, sometimes more desperate. At least there are constructive suggestions (“This is the matter”).
In the event that you want to take a short break from the pandemic and other problems, we particularly recommend November 20th. We’ll tell you at the end of this newsletter (“Good to know”) why the day is ideally suited for changing your mind and how this benefits education.
Please send us your criticism and suggestions at [email protected].
Best regards
Your team from the “little break”
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That’s going on
1. Open schools – and open letters
In a way, we are allowed to participate in the Chancellor’s post. We receive various open letters to Angela Merkel by e-mail. They contain urgent – but also contradicting – demands on the subject of corona and school. The background to this is the decision of the Conference of Ministers of Education last Tuesday and the decision by Merkel and the Prime Minister the next day to impose a far-reaching shutdown, but to leave daycare centers and schools open.
One parliamentary group expresses “greatest concerns”, “because our children and thus also the general population are irresponsibly endangered,” as the Federal Parents’ Council and other associations write. The core of their criticism: the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs does not implement the recommendations of the Robert Koch Institute as binding national guidelines. The institute had recommended that schools from a certain number of corona cases in the region return to teaching in small groups and in a shift system.
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Elementary school class in Hamburg
Photo: David Charisins / dpa
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The other parliamentary group shows “great relief” that both the Chancellor and the Conference of Ministers of Education have waived such requirements. Initiatives such as “Children need children” also warn that the first schools in some Corona hotspots have already closed again or have returned to the alternate model. “For children, education and care in daycare and school are at least as important as their work is for adults,” the parents write.
The extent to which mothers, fathers and teachers are worried about the issue is shown by various articles from the past few days that highlight the pros and cons:
The education journalist Jan-Martin Wiarda has thought about how the spirits in the heated debate about education and care, infection protection and proper ventilation could be pacified – and made six and a half suggestions. In addition, the “Zeit” authors Jeannette Otto and Johanna Schoener collected under the keyword “Beyond Ventilation” Seven ideas on how to avoid school closings again and how lessons can continue.
2nd minute’s silence for Samuel Paty
On Monday, November 2nd, at 11.15 a.m., many schools in Europe went silent. The French Ministry of Education had called on the governments of all European countries to observe a minute’s silence for the murdered history teacher Samuel Paty. The 47-year-old was the victim of an attack that the French government considers an Islamist act of terrorism. Our colleague Tanja Kuchenbecker reports that Samuel Paty was a teacher who defended freedom of expression.
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People gather on Place de la République in Paris to commemorate Samuel Paty
Foto: CHARLES PLATIAU / REUTERS
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Many teachers in France would see the act “as an attack on the freedom to learn”, writes the colleague. “They have become aware of what they risk every day: their lives. You can die because you are a teacher.”
A German teacher reports in the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”how the assassination also influenced her teaching, what resistance she experienced in her classes and why she only talked about it anonymously.
What is your experience? Do you see freedom of expression in class at risk? Feel free to write to [email protected]
3. What else was there
Incidentally, it also happened a bit apart from the Corona debates: The OECD gave the students in Germany a good report (at least in part) – and not despite, but because of the Pisa results. Yes, that’s actually true. Because the last Pisa study was not only about reading, math and science, but also about “global competence”.
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Global learning: contact with people from different cultures is considered a positive effect
Foto: Oliver Berg/ picture-alliance/ dpa
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