It is no coincidence that a few days before the Minister President's Conference on Tuesday, the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs goes public with the demand that continuous face-to-face teaching be given top priority in the beginning of the school year.

In the past two school years, the pupils had "made their contribution to the protection of the entire population" due to a lack of vaccination options through alternating lessons and school closings.

Too often, even after the Prime Minister's Conferences last year, the ostensible priority for education had turned out to be mere lip service.

On site, health authorities sent entire school classes into quarantine, schools had to be closed.

Heike Schmoll

Political correspondent in Berlin, responsible for the “educational worlds”.

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Even in the same city, schools were often treated differently in cases of infection.

The ministers of education therefore demand that the health authorities react “appropriately, transparently and uniformly”.

Citing experts, they advocate using other indicators than just incidence and avoiding school closings in the fall, even if the number of infections increases.

Compared to the previous school year, the situation is different, affirmed the ministers of education after a conversation with virologists last week.

The vaccination offer gives protection for a large part of the population.

The delta variant is indeed more contagious overall, but does not lead to severe courses in children and adolescents.

Immense psychological effects

The responsible ministers are now also more clearly aware of the consequences of a lack of educational opportunities for children and young people. The psychological and physical effects are immense, and this does not only apply to children from poorly educated families. Comprehensive hygiene concepts continue to apply in schools with ongoing testing and regular reductions in aerosol concentrations through cross ventilation and mobile air filters.

The KMK appeals to all adults to be vaccinated as far as possible and thereby make a significant contribution to reducing the incidence of infections among children and adolescents as well. Like the health ministers, the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK) resolutely opposes compulsory vaccination for 12 to 17 year old schoolchildren and refers solely to the possibility of opting for it after medical advice.

Regular operations should continue in the winter semester not only in schools, but also in universities. From the point of view of the KMK, as many students as possible must therefore be convinced to get vaccinated. "Access to face-to-face events can be made dependent on proof of vaccination, recovery or a negative test (3G principle) if the protection against infection requires it." to prohibit face-to-face events above a certain incidence value.

After three digital semesters, the universities finally needed planning security. Restrictions on studying on site would only come into consideration in exceptional situations, "in which, taking into account the vaccination quota and the utilization of the intensive care capacity of the hospitals, defined risk values ​​are exceeded", according to the KMK decision. Especially for first-year students, graduating classes and courses with a high discursive or practical component, "face-to-face studies" must be possible.