The August-Schärttner-Halle is to become one of two corona vaccination centers in the Main-Kinzig district. School sports in particular have problems with the fact that the hall will probably not be usable for months.
Hanau – “Once again, savings are being made on education, parents and children are the ones who suffer again,” says Frauke Tschiltschke about the planned third-party use of the August-Schärttner-Halle as one of two vaccination centers in the region. Tschiltschke is a physical education teacher at the Hohe Landesschule (Hola) high school in Hanau, and she is worried about the coming months when the 1,500 or so Hola students will not be able to attend physical education in their hall.
Hanau: High school can move to other sports halls
Next Monday, November 30th, Hola will still be able to use the August-Schärttner-Halle for her physical education lessons – for the last time for a long time. Then it is time to evade: As the city of Hanau, as the school authority, informs our newspaper when asked, the following alternatives are initially available from December 1st: Upon consultation with the Karl-Rehbein-School (KRS) and the School Center Hessen-Homburg (SZHH) the school administration office had shown both schools to show “gratifying solidarity”.
“The KRS would completely vacate the Jahnhalle. This means that the hall would be blocked exclusively for the Hohe Landesschule from Monday to Friday during normal school sports hours, ”it says.
Finding alternatives made more difficult by Corona
In the sports hall at the SZHH, the Hola could be offered on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, each with a time window of several hours. In addition, the school administration office and the city’s sports department were looking for other hall alternatives. This is more difficult than before Corona, since school sports can only take place at longer intervals due to the pandemic and the capacities are of course becoming scarcer.
Tschiltschke’s colleague Timo Koller, sports coordinator of the Hola, also expresses his concerns: “We would have liked that other objects had been checked as the vaccination center location.” The fact that the Hola sports lessons now have to switch to other halls would result in major restrictions Mean students and teachers.
The way to alternative halls costs students and teachers a lot of time
Koller criticizes the fact that the city of Hola has now allocated hall times in the Hessen-Homburg-Halle and in the Jahnhalle: “We’ve had that before, there is very little time left for physical education on the way there,” says Koller. It is around two kilometers to walk from Hola to Hessen-Homburg-Halle.
“That’s around 20 minutes for the way there and 20 minutes back,” says the sports teacher. The teachers would have to take teaching materials with them, the students their sports equipment and their satchels.
Hanau: Schärttner-Halle was already used as refugee emergency accommodation
This is not the first time that the Schärttner Hall has been used for purposes other than intended, which is particularly frustrating for Tschiltschke and Koller. In 2015 the hall was used as a refugee emergency shelter for a few weeks. In 2018 the hall was again unusable for weeks because the ceiling had to be extensively renovated.
In 2019 the floor had to be completely renovated – and again the children had to evade. Tschiltschke wonders whether alternative locations have also been examined, such as the large area of the fire brigade and DRK in Lamboy.
Physical education teachers feel abandoned
“We are in no way against a vaccination center,” emphasizes Koller. But it is regrettable that the school has had to accept many and long interruptions in school sports over the past five years, said Koller. And especially in the current time, the issue of lack of exercise in children and adolescents has come into focus.
Tschiltschke adds: “And what about the educational mandate?” The pandemic alone makes it difficult to implement, although attempts are made at Hola to do a lot of outdoor exercise in the fresh air. “But even there we are left alone by the Ministry of Culture, for example there is no budget for outdoor sports materials,” criticizes the sports teacher. And all concepts that were made by the Hola sports teachers for physical education under Corona are now obsolete. Koller: “It’s very frustrating.”
Ministry of Culture emphasizes the importance of physical education
On request, the Hessian Ministry of Culture emphasizes that exercise and sport are elementary and indispensable components of holistic education. “Especially in the current situation there is great agreement among the experts that sport and exercise have a very important function for children and young people,” said the press office of the Ministry of Culture when asked about the importance of the educational mandate.
Both teachers also direct attention to the high school students who have chosen sport as an examination subject. In the case of the 60 or so students concerned, it is questionable to what extent sufficient preparation for the Abitur can be guaranteed. For a final course with a focus on gymnastics, other teaching options would have to be found. The Schärttner Hall offers very good conditions, especially for gymnastics and athletics.
High School Hanau focuses on sport
But sports trainees are also impaired in their training. There are currently 18 sports teachers and two sports trainees working at Hola. For these trainee teachers, teaching experience is important and cannot be replaced by online offers. The Hola also places a focus on sport in its school program. “We offer the third sports lesson all the way up to eighth grade. Sport is a strong focus at the Hola, ”says sports teacher Koller.
The chairman of the school parents ‘council, Steffen Kohlhas, and the chairman of the city parents’ council, Alexander Happel, have fewer problems with using the hall as a vaccination center. When asked, both of them say in unison that it is about a “overriding interest”. “I see the overriding goal, that has priority,” said Happel. The Schärttner hall is probably the optimal solution for a vaccination center. However, he hoped that the vaccination campaign would be tightly structured and run as quickly as possible.
Long-term alternative required
“The school board must now offer us an adequate replacement,” emphasizes Kohlhas. And these replacement solutions would have to be thought of in the long term, also for the coming summer with regard to the sports school leaving certificate at Hola. Because how long the hall will not be usable for the Hola is still unclear. The top of the circle had announced that the entire vaccination campaign could continue into the autumn of next year.
The city of Hanau is convinced that the situation should only relax in the spring, when physical education classes can increasingly take place outdoors. Then the Hola-Sport could take place again on the Rudi-Völler-Sportanlage or in the Herbert-Dröse-Stadium.
Clubs also face problems
As for the clubs that also use the August-Schärttner-Halle, the Sports Department is already holding talks in order to be able to draw up an alternative plan. Here, too, she relies on solidarity with one another. This is well practiced from earlier closings of the Schärttner Hall, such as the accommodation of the refugees and the renovation of the hall roof and floor over several weeks.
“It should also be noted that basketball players, volleyball players, badminton players, track and field athletes, gymnasts and rope skippers are currently in lockdown and group training is not possible in the hall anyway,” the town hall said.
When preparing the hall as a vaccination tower, the city also focused on the refurbished floor: to protect it during use as a vaccination center, the hall floor was covered with an additional covering that was easy to clean.
August-Schärttner-Halle becomes a vaccination center. The comment “Appropriate and therefore in order” from HA editor-in-chief Yvonne Backhaus-Arnold and the comment “Not again at the expense of children and adolescents” from HA editor Monica Bielesch.
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