display

Düsseldorf (AP) - Prime Minister Armin Laschet (CDU) has threatened a corona test obligation for students in North Rhine-Westphalia.

In the ZDF program “Markus Lanz”, Laschet pointed out on Tuesday evening that some of the parents refused to take a test for their children at school.

At the same time, he questioned the opening of schools after the Easter break.

"As of today - we will have to deal intensively with the schools next week - I can not definitely say that they will open after the holidays," said Laschet on the talk show.

"We will have to deal with that very carefully," says Laschet, since "unlike last year" it was no longer about whether the children were getting a good education because "you can't learn so well at home".

"Now it's really about health protection," emphasized Laschet.

With his push for compulsory testing if the schools should open, Laschet ran open doors: the SPD, Greens and teachers' association are also in favor.

The SPD wants a negative test result after the Easter holidays to be a prerequisite for participation in face-to-face classes.

display

However, the students should be able to take this test at home, according to SPD education expert Jochen Ott.

At school they could then exchange the test set for a fresh one paid for by the state.

"Pupils who do not want to take a test can still take part in distance lessons," says Ott.

Laschet had said on Markus Lanz's talk show: “Now we will have to think about it: do we have to introduce compulsory testing.

Because of course not every child can say for themselves that I just won't be tested. "

He added: "If it continues like this, there will be compulsory testing."

You can now notice - unlike last year - that children are much more affected by mutations of the virus.

"That's why we need clear rules."

The "Rheinische Post" had previously reported estimates by the North Rhine-Westphalian teachers' association that around every fifth student refused to take a test at school.

The President of the NRW Teachers' Association, Andreas Bartsch, told the dpa on Wednesday: "It is not understandable why there should be a mix of untested and tested students in the classes when the goal is a high level of infection protection."

display

Bartsch also spoke out in favor of the students testing themselves at home - and staying there if the result was positive.

“We live in a time of high levels of personal responsibility - the students have to do it themselves, too,” said Bartsch.

Parents could help primary school children.

For the head of the association, corona tests and vaccinations are the key to keeping the lessons going: "For this, teachers from secondary schools must finally be brought forward in the vaccination sequence."

If the schools remain closed after the Easter break, he will be seriously worried about the school year, said Bartsch.

The education policy spokeswoman for the Greens parliamentary group, Sigrid Beer, had already advocated on Tuesday - as did the Association of Cities and Municipalities of North Rhine-Westphalia - for a “binding regulation” for the tests: Many students would have refused a test “because they and their families feared a quarantine. "

Beer emphasized that there had to be enough tests.

"Another disaster with regard to the availability of tests like in the last two weeks must not happen after the Easter break," said Beer.

display

"The tests are there, they are already in most schools," said Prime Minister Laschet on Tuesday evening at Markus Lanz.

To the reaction of the Essen doctor Carola "Doc Caro" Holzner, who was also invited by Lanz, that her children had not yet been tested in elementary school, Laschet replied: "Then you have to tell me about the school."

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210331-99-38843 / 3

Laschet at Lanz in the media library