“We are here, we are loud because our school is being stolen”, shouted over 100 children, teachers and parents on Friday as they marched through Rechlin. And the plan worked: Many residents looked curiously at the made signs and banners, the messages of which were very clear. “Small class instead of large masses”, “We fight for our school”, “Ban school factories” and “Village school = village life” was written on some of them.
Hope for a U-turn
For half an hour the demonstrators marched from the guest’s house to the supermarket at the entrance to the village. They do not want to accept that lessons at the regional schools should end on July 31, 2022 due to the low number of pupils and hope that the talks between the Ministry of Education, the district and Rechling’s mayor that have been announced for November will bring about a turnaround.
More and more support
“We want to make our point of view clear with various campaigns on a regular basis, to show ourselves,” said Jasmin Altmann, one of the active parents who are growing more and more and are also receiving more and more support from the community. “We distributed flyers and signature lists. Moving through the village together today was very important. It attacks you emotionally in a different way when the students stand up for their future, ”said Jasmin Altmann, praising the courage of the teachers who protested.
Headmistress Beate Höhn, who will retire next July, does not even want to think about alternative models such as the so-called “elementary school with a school-type independent orientation level as an all-day school”, but instead wants to fight for the preservation of the current school structure. As a MINT school, the educational institution stands for quality and is therefore chosen by many students from the area who would like to be taught in Rechlin.
Local school was a reason for moving
For many families, the school closure would also mess up the daily routine and cause problems when it comes to balancing work and family life, said Yvonne Berend, who has a child in the sixth grade and one in the third grade and also went on the demonstration Children feel at home here and the local school was one of the reasons why we decided to move here and look for work here, ”said Yvonne Berend.
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