Inventions at schools? – SWR Current

After more than two years of the corona pandemic, almost all protective measures in Germany ceased last Sunday. Mandatory masks and access rules such as 3G are a thing of the past almost everywhere, and mouth and nose protection only has to be worn in a few exceptional cases. The obligation to take tests has also been relaxed and will also no longer apply in schools after the Easter holidays.

Association: Hostilities at schools possible

After the abolition of the obligation to wear masks in schools, the Association for Education and Training (VBE) Baden-Württemberg fears disputes and hostilities among teachers and parents. “There are very different opinions within the teaching staff and among the parents,” said the spokesman for the VBE Baden-Württemberg, Michael Gomolzig. He’s also worried that friendships could break up. For the first time in a long time, boys and girls, as well as the teaching staff, were able to do without masks in schools on Monday. However, the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Culture emphasized that everyone is free to wear a mask. Schools should not order masks to be compulsory.

“In fact, there is now a risk that, on the one hand, children who wear masks will be teased by classmates as wimps and overly anxious, or, conversely, that pressure will be exerted on those who do not wear masks,” said Heinz-Peter Meidinger, President of the German Teachers’ Association. the German Press Agency already at the weekend. He therefore advocated a voluntary commitment by teachers and students to continue to wear masks in class and on school grounds in every class up to and including the week after the Easter holidays.

Association: Learning success could be disrupted

There is a risk that the topic “mask yes or no” will be carried into every classroom and that school peace and the learning success of the students will be endangered, said the federal chairwoman of the Education and Science Union (GEW), Maike Finnern. The GEW considers wearing masks to be sensible and correct “in the current, very tense infection situation”, at least until the holidays, she added, “although we fundamentally share the educational concerns about wearing masks”.

According to the teachers’ union GEW, many teachers and students in Baden-Württemberg continue to wear masks – however, exact figures are not yet available. In some schools, almost everyone would wear masks voluntarily, in others almost nobody, a union spokesman told SWR. The attitude varies between relief at not being able to wear a mask and concern about getting infected.

Pupils in the district of Esslingen are happy

The pupils of a second class at the Liebenauschule in Neckartailfingen (Esslingen district) are delighted that masks are no longer compulsory. “That’s cool,” say several students at the Liebenau School. Under the mask they could hardly breathe.

While his students completed the lessons without masks, teacher Fabian Kirchmann continues to wear mouth and nose protection voluntarily. “I feel safer when I have the mask on,” says the 29-year-old. He is happy for the children, but he believes that the mask requirement will be lifted too early. There are also a few children at the Liebenau School who voluntarily wear a mask.

Survey: end of mask requirement wrong decision?

There is relief and concern about the end of the mask requirement not only in schools: In a survey of retailers by the Bavarian Trade Association, a narrow majority said that the end of the mask requirement was wrong (50.4 percent). 39.2 percent think the abolition is right. According to the survey, 11.7 percent of retailers in Bavaria want to stick to the mask requirement in their shops, while 77.4 percent do not want to prescribe masks by domiciliary rights.

The German Retail Association emphasizes that it has always been clear that the mask requirement when shopping cannot apply in the long term and will fall as soon as the pandemic situation allows it according to politicians and experts. The general manager of the association, Stefan Genth, expects that mouth and nose covers will continue to be widespread in shops.

A majority of people in Germany meanwhile want to continue to wear a mask in the supermarket, for example. According to a survey by the opinion research institute INSA for the “Bild am Sonntag”, this was stated by 63 percent of those questioned.

Many people continue to wear the mask voluntarily

In Baden-Württemberg, for example, the first visitors to the Tripsdrill amusement park near Cleebronn (Heilbronn district) noticed that the mask requirement and the 3G rule were no longer applicable. The postponed opening from Saturday to Sunday due to the weather ensured that the 2022 season could start without Corona regulations. The flow of visitors was rather restrained.

“As of today, the 3G obligation for leisure facilities is also no longer applicable, which we very much welcome,” says press spokesman Birger Meierjohann. Despite being voluntary, numerous visitors continued to wear a mask. Those responsible for the park recommended continuing to be considerate despite the easing and wearing a mask indoors.

Many visitors with masks on Sunday shopping in Ulm

Sunday shopping in many cities in Baden-Württemberg, such as Heilbronn and Ulm, presented a similar picture: the majority of visitors had a mask with them, many shops rely on their guests to volunteer. Basically, the house rules apply here – supermarkets, shops and Co. can insist on the mask with their customers.

Even in the football stadium without a mask

The Corona restrictions have also been dropped for events: For example, Karlsruher SC received Fortuna Düsseldorf (final score: 2: 2) in the second Bundesliga on Sunday in front of well-filled ranks. Previously, many fans had taken part in a fan march to the stadium.

Lauterbach and Kretschmann advise wearing the mask voluntarily

Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) again recommended wearing masks indoors. He will do this, for example, when shopping, “I advise every citizen to do the same,” said the SPD politician on Deutschlandfunk. “The risk of becoming infected has rarely been higher than it is now.” From a medical point of view, he would have thought that a mask requirement and other protective rules were correct, but legally it was no longer possible throughout Germany Lauterbach tweeted.

Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) also called for the mask to be kept indoors during the week. “In this way we not only protect our own health, but also show solidarity in the community,” emphasized the 73-year-old.

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