The development of the corona numbers does not lead to an early start of the Christmas holidays in Berlin. The spokesman for the Senate Department for Education announced on Thursday. The infection process is being observed ”and the administration is preparing“ for all eventualities ”. Education Senator Sandra Scheeres (SPD) emphasized on Thursday after a consultation with experts with regard to the debate about the school closure debate that schools and daycare centers are “the safest places”.
The discussion about an early vacation start was triggered by North Rhine-Westphalia: It is one of the seven federal states whose first vacation day would be December 23rd. In Berlin and the other nine federal states it is December 21st. NRW wants to join now.
Proponents of an earlier start of the holiday argue that families and teachers could then recover from the corona stress before Christmas. In addition, the time gap between possible risk of infection in everyday school life and the meeting with the grandparents on the holidays increases. In view of the many quarantine cases and the increasing number of infected students and teachers, the question of whether the vacation should not be brought forward several days or a whole week is also being discussed in Berlin.
There is no clear support for this in the political arena or from the state parents’ spokesman, Norman Heise. An earlier start of the vacation has “advantages and disadvantages”, said Heise. With some, such a thing will meet with approval and with the others “mess up the planning”.
City Councilor: The family environment is more of the problem
The Pankow health and education city councilor Torsten Kühne (CDU) told the Tagesspiegel checkpoint that he was “split” on the issue. This could be supported by the fact that infections are not carried directly from schools to family celebrations at Christmas. But that would require that the early vacation be used for domestic segregation, Kühne points out.
Kühne thinks it is “probably even more sensible to extend the vacation so that, conversely, infections from the family environment are not carried to schools at Christmas after the vacation”. He estimates the danger to be greater. However, the fact that there have already been so many missed lessons this year speaks against extended holidays. In addition, there are problems such as a lack of exercise, weight gain and psychological stress, such as those observed during school closings.
The extension of the vacation is only “of necessity” an option if the current measures are not effective by the end of November.
“That doesn’t protect the grandparents”
“I am in favor of checking that and would like to know what the Charité has to say about it,” was the expectation of the left-wing education expert Regina Kittler.
The green youth and education politician Marianne Burkert-Eulitz, on the other hand, called it a “fallacy” to believe that the infection rate would be positively influenced by an earlier start of the holiday, “because the kids would actually not be in quarantine. You would be out and about in the city and in the country – that doesn’t protect your grandparents.
Scheeres emphasized on Thursday in the Education Committee of the House of Representatives after a meeting with the Charité expert Frank Mockenhaupt and one representative each of the Berlin official and paediatricians that “schools and daycare centers are the safest places to break chains of infection”. The autumn vacation would have had a rather negative impact on the infection rate.
SPD health expert relies on Saskia Esken
The SPD parliamentary group is increasingly putting pressure on Scheeres to keep schools open. This was also evident in the education committee, where, as an exception, the SPD health politician Thomas Isenberg was present. He wanted to know from the senator “when the shift model is coming”, that is, halved classes. In doing so, he referred to the SPD federal chairman Saskia Esken, who had recently called for the abandonment of regular lessons: Then half of a study group would study at home or do their homework every day or week.
Isenberg had already indicated on Wednesday in the main committee of the House of Representatives that he was keeping his distance from the senator on the central Corona issue. He is thus in line with the parliamentary SPD manager Torsten Schneider.
One hearing – two messages
Schneider – one of the most influential SPD politicians in the parliamentary group – had expressed demonstratively angry about Scheeres’ corona policy in the main committee. In order to be able to place his criticism, he had – highly unusual – invited the President of the Robert Koch Institute, a medical officer as well as representatives of the schools and teacher trade unionists to a hearing in the committee, which usually deals with budget issues.
It turned out that Schneider wanted to use the hearing primarily to place two messages. On the one hand, this was the criticism that his party colleague Scheeres – like her counterparts in the other federal states – is sticking to the regular lessons. Scheeres responded by pointing out the bad experiences with school closings in the spring with regard to social upheavals and learning gaps.
Concern about lack of parliamentary participation
Schneider’s second message was that the education administration had not set up the Corona step-by-step plan for schools in a legally secure manner: Since the sample hygiene plan and the step-by-step plan had not yet been incorporated into a statutory ordinance, even though it contained “numerous provisions and regulations of fundamental importance that are relevant to fundamental rights” . In addition, the SPD politician demanded that it should be “examined in parliament” whether even state laws are necessary instead of just legal ordinances, if the state intervenes in the lives of its citizens as it is currently with the corona resolutions everywhere in Germany.
According to reports, however, these ordinances are long on their way.
GEW calls for protective equipment for teachers
At the hearing, Schneider had the experts report on how they assess the current situation. From the president of the Robert Koch Institute, Lothar H. Wieler, to the Reinickendorfer medical officer Patrick Larscheid, from the state parents’ spokesman Norman Heise to the state school spokesman Richard Gamp, the headmistress representative Ralf Treptow and the trade unionists Tom Erdmann and Ferdinand Horbat, everyone described the balancing act between everyone’s security interests and the needs of students who need support and structure. Erdmann voted most clearly in favor of halving classes and “protective equipment for educators”.
“No study on increased domestic violence”
However, the one who had ordered this firework of arguments, namely the managing director Schneider, seemed to be least interested in it. After everyone had given detailed reasons for their views and the Senator had warned of the risks of reduced classroom teaching – large learning gaps, social neglect and more domestic violence – the Social Democrat complained that there was no “study” at all that showed the increased domestic violence during the complete closure of the Schools. However, State Secretary for Equal Opportunities, Barbara König (SPD) had just justified the opening of another women’s shelter by stating that “unfortunately domestic violence is increasing in this pandemic”.
Demonstrative support for the medical officer from the RKI boss
Schneider then accused the hygiene advisory board of the education administration and Scheeres in a clearly outraged tone of not having waited for the recommendations of the RKI before setting the step-by-step plan. Before those attacked in this way could defend themselves argumentatively, Schneider left his place and did not come back.
So he could no longer hear that the medical officer Larscheid, as a member of the hygiene advisory board, explained that he had always been in contact with the RKI. He also did not hear that RKI boss Wieler Larscheid attested that he was “right on all points”.
“External shame” about the SPD managing director
After Schneider’s appearance, there was astonishment among the members and members of the parliament. “Strange ashamed”, she said about the “bossy and inflated” behavior, said one MP. Others pointed out that it was now up to parliamentary group leader Raed Saleh to hold the manager accountable for his “disrespectful behavior”. “Schneider is no longer under control,” was another assessment. Up until now, he was known to “take a calculated rush” in order to achieve his goals, but in this case he overshot the mark.
Public health officer Larscheid was surprised that Schneider had “raged so against his party colleague Sandra Scheeres”. In addition, the whole thing was “stylistically”.
“Now the SPD parliamentary group has to think about how to deal with it,” said the coalition. It is possible that Schneider will put pressure on his parliamentary group to push for school closings.
