After a six-week Corona break, classes have started again in Bavaria, initially only for final classes. How does it work and how disciplined are the students?
After a six-week break due to the corona crisis, face-to-face classes started again for a few classes on Monday. It all started in the Free State for the pupils who are about to graduate – i.e. Abitur, Mittelreife, Quali or a vocational qualification. According to Minister of Culture Michael Piazolo (Free Voters), 14 percent of the students have returned to school. Everything has changed a bit: there are special timetables and small classes, and hygiene and distance rules must also be observed. We asked three schools in Lower Franconia how the lessons went.
Photo: Silvia Gralla
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All students had their own mask
The 42 students in the final grade Q12 at the Röntgen-Gymnasium in Würzburg behaved “very disciplined”, praises director Klauspeter Schmidt. In the morning he greeted all students personally and explained them again about the new hygiene rules. “All students had their own mask with them,” says Schmidt. In the classroom there is no mask requirement, but we recommend everyone to wear the mask with all movements in the school building. The classes began at the Röntgen-Gymnasium, divided into small groups of a maximum of 15 students – in the classrooms and in the gym. The distance between the students: at least 1.5 meters.
Photo: Silvia Gralla
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On Monday, 20 teachers worked for the 42 high school graduates, says the director. On the one hand, the division into small groups would require more teachers, and on the other hand, some teachers would also check the corridors and toilets so that there would be no group formation or violations of the hygiene rules. “We will still be able to cope with the fact that the Q11 will soon return to school with 101 students,” says Schmidt. However, he considers it unlikely that all 750 students will be in high school again at the same time this school year. “Perhaps we will soon be able to offer shift lessons for half of the students.”
“The students recognized the seriousness of the situation.”
Tomi Neckov, principal of the Middle School for Peace in Schweinfurt–
Rector Tomi Neckov reports that the first day of school went very well at the Friedens-Mittelschule in Schweinfurt: “The students were really happy to see their classmates and their teachers again.” Everyone would have “recognized the seriousness of the situation,” says Neckov. “They were so decent that we almost didn’t recognize them ourselves.” In Schweinfurt all pupils had face masks with them, in the school building and also in the playground they kept the required minimum distance. The fact that every student now has to wash their hands after entering the school building takes time, says the principal. “But that’s the way it is now.”
Photo: Anand Anders
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Neckov welcomes the fact that face-to-face classes can take place again after a six-week break. Learning at home was difficult for many students: “The students want to ask questions and they want to exchange ideas.” Online lessons alone cannot do that. Even if the pupils of the 8th grades come back to school in a few weeks, Neckov feels prepared: “We are now introducing the older pupils very closely and strictly to the new hygiene regulations and hope that the younger ones will then be able to do so Learn older ones. ”
Photo: Siegfried Sebelka
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Change model at the FOS / BOS in Kitzingen
Classes started again for 175 pupils at FOS / BOS in Kitzingen. Headmaster Andreas Breitenbacher divided them into two groups from the start: “With so many students, lessons are only possible in two shifts on two days.” For some there are face-to-face classes, for others online classes take place in parallel. “All students behaved in a very disciplined manner and adhered to the new rules,” says the headmaster. Teaching on-site at school is important for everyone: “The dialogue between teachers and students should not be underestimated.”
Simone Fleischmann, President of the Bavarian Teachers’ Association (BLLV), praised on Monday how quickly the schools had implemented all the specifications of the Ministry of Education. Fleischmann believes the masks in particular are very important psychologically at school: “Masks give teachers and students some security,” says Fleischmann. The BLLV president believes that opening the schools so gently is the right way. “A prudent start-up of school operations is exactly what we asked for.”
Photo: Silvia Gralla
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What comes after graduation?
And what do the students say about the lessons in Corona times? “It is so much easier to learn the material in class than at home in front of the computer. But you have to get used to the new hygiene rules,” says Julian Dadrich (19) from Q12 at the X-ray high school in Würzburg. His classmate Ole Lohmann (19) is also happy to be back in school: “I hope that the high school exams will be rated somewhat milder than normal under these conditions.” The lessons are better than expected and the hygiene rules are quite feasible.
But what comes after graduation? “I had to overturn all my plans for post-graduate school,” says Sarah Groffner (18). “Now everything is in the stars.”
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