Berlin (dpa / bb) – In Berlin schools, more children are now being taught in the classroom again – but so far this has not been the case for seventh to ninth graders due to the pandemic. The Berlin Administrative Court has now ruled that the exclusion of individual grades from alternating classes is illegal.
The administrative court partially granted several urgent motions from students on Wednesday. They wanted to ensure that the classes were fully occupied again. Six out of seven also wanted to enforce that mouth and nose protection is no longer compulsory.
The court disagreed on these points. Insofar as individual grades beyond the primary level and the final classes are completely excluded from face-to-face training in the alternating model, this turns out to be “equality and therefore illegal,” said the administrative court.
So far, only the first to sixth grades are back in school, each in smaller groups and alternating with digital lessons at home. Such alternating lessons can also be offered for senior graduates, the court explained, but after a case-by-case decision by the respective school in agreement with the school supervisory authority.
With the court decision, there must also be the possibility for the middle grades to enable alternate teaching with individual decisions. For the time being, the decision only applies to the students who turned to the court.
According to the court, the Senate Department for Education justified the exclusion of the middle school with the fact that final exams were not imminent and that children between the ages of six and ten years had a lower risk of infection. Appeals against the resolutions can be lodged with the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210310-99-769786 / 2
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