Schools in the pandemic: seven questions that reveal the whole problem

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At Hamburg's state and private schools there are interim certificates on Thursday - but not for all.

Many of the approximately 255,600 students in the Hanseatic city will go away empty-handed.

But that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the corona situation.

At the same time, the pandemic is turning the process upside down.

The most important questions and answers:

Who even gets an interim report?

In grades one to three there are no interim certificates.

However, elementary schools often provide parents with a report on their child's skills.

In this pandemic year, some elementary schools are replacing writing with an extended learning development interview.

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For grades 5, 7, 8 and 9 of the grammar school and grades 5 to 8 of the district schools, the teachers' conference decides whether there are interim certificates.

Interim certificates are only compulsory in the fourth grade of elementary schools and in grades 6 and 10 to 12 at grammar schools and 9 to 13 at district schools.

How do the students get their certificate?

The schools take care of that themselves. Some let the boys and girls come to the handover in person - a whole day is then planned for the handover so that not too many students come to the school at once and possibly become infected.

However, the school authorities do not like this and recommend sending the certificates by post or digitally instead.

The required signatures of the legal guardians on the certificates could also be provided retrospectively.

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Is there a reference to the Corona conditions in the interim report?

No.

Since the lessons in the first half of the year were relatively normal until just before Christmas and the lockdown after the holidays is not particularly significant for the services in the first half of the year, there is no corona notice.

For the annual report card in summer, however, it could look different - provided the schools remain closed beyond February 14th.

Which teaching models are possible in the second semester?

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That depends on the number of corona cases.

During the lockdown, which will last at least until mid-February, there will only be distance teaching in Hamburg, so all students will be taught online at home.

In the school buildings themselves there is only emergency care.

School Senator Ties Rabe (SPD) is striving to be able to offer face-to-face lessons again as quickly as possible.

The third variant is hybrid or alternating instruction, in which the children and young people learn partly at home and partly at school.

This is the best option for the GEW teachers' union - but only when the number of corona infections per 100,000 inhabitants has fallen to below 50 in one week.

What about the transfer of knowledge?

Should the schools reopen in mid-February, the students would only miss about two weeks in the second half of the year.

That would be manageable from the point of view of the school authorities.

It becomes problematic if the lockdown lasts significantly longer.

There is still no concrete plan for this case, but from the point of view of the authority it would be conceivable, among other things, to dispense with one or the other written exam, to extend afternoon classes, especially at primary schools, and to make even greater use of the learning holidays already set for March.

Should the school year be extended to reduce deficits?

Hamburg's parents' association has already identified clear learning deficits and suggested that the school year should therefore be extended.

That would also postpone the start of studies and training.

"But to be completely honest: We are in such a dramatic situation in society that we have to say that now everyone has to step in and work together so that we can send a young generation onto the streets that is just as well educated as the year before." The teachers' union GEW is skeptical of this proposal.

“I imagine it to be difficult.

When should this happen with which teachers, ”says Hamburg's GEW boss Anja Bensinger-Stolze.

In addition, the deficits of “abandoned students” would not be remedied by extending the school year.

“You need special funding” - and that already exists.

What about the Abitur?

The federal states are currently negotiating a possible course of action in the Standing Conference.

According to its own information, the school authorities are currently examining all options, including postponing the start of the written exams, which was previously planned for April 16.

However, the scope is very narrow, says a spokesman for the authorities.

Unlike in many other federal states, a postponement is hardly possible, "because in addition to the very early spring break, we also have a May break in the middle of the exam period and the options are therefore very limited".

The neighboring state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has already postponed the start of its written Abitur exams from April 13th to April 23rd.