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The school openings in NRW will continue on Monday despite the recent increase in the number of corona infections with the next step.
After months of distance learning, many children and young people from secondary schools return to the classrooms at least for a day.
This means that by the time of the Easter break in two weeks, all schoolchildren in the state should be given face-to-face tuition in alternation with learning at home.
Three weeks ago, the elementary school students and the final years started in schools.
Due to the infection situation, the Düren district had applied to be exempted from the further school opening in the two weeks up to the Easter holidays.
The Ministry of Education rejected this on Friday.
There is currently no evidence that schools in the affected communities are particularly responsible for the infection, according to the circle from the ministry.
School closings or the restriction of school operations would therefore only be considered as a last resort in the fight against pandemics.
The NRW state government sees no reason not to open the schools any further.
Tests for teachers and students would “bring a lot of safety into the classroom,” said Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann (CDU) on Thursday.
School Minister Yvonne Gebauer (FDP) had stated several times that this was about educational success and educational equity as well as about protection in school life.
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“In retrospect, it was right to stick to face-to-face teaching as long as possible.
The first half of the school year could largely be carried out in face-to-face classes while adhering to the strict requirements for infection protection, ”she told the dpa.
The pupils now benefit from this, for example when preparing for their final exams.
"And although an increasing professionalization of distance teaching has been observed in schools in the past few weeks, it is now also correct to gradually resume face-to-face teaching for other classes."
In the opinion of the state parents of the grammar schools, the topic of school remains "a ride on the razor blade" in the corona pandemic.
"It is understandable when parents in regions with a high incidence have concerns about sending their child to school," said board member Franz-Josef Kahlen.
With the increasing number of new infections, the situation is becoming more critical again, while hardly anything has changed in the schools in terms of health protection.
"The step into face-to-face lessons on Monday does not run in parallel with new, additional protective measures that have been required for a long time."
The secondary schools are to receive the first of 1.8 million self-tests from Tuesday, which will be distributed by the Easter holidays.
According to the Ministry of Education, the pupils can then voluntarily test themselves once a week under supervision in the school.
In Bergisch Gladbach, the distribution of spit tests to schoolchildren begins one day before the other municipalities on Monday.
According to the GEW, the teachers are not an option for carrying out the self-tests on the pupils.
The union is also calling for clear guidelines on what to do if the test is positive.
Observing the AHA rules and learning in small, fixed groups are also important.
"Unlike last autumn, the pupils only return to the schools to a limited extent and are taught in an alternating model," said Helmut Dedy, Managing Director of the North Rhine-Westphalia City Council.
Whether more face-to-face classes will be possible after the Easter break depends on how the number of infections develops.
The GEW sees it similarly: “The lessons in the alternating model cannot correspond to the lessons in full, the full timetable cannot be displayed.
So it's a very different situation than before the Christmas holidays. "