About half of all primary schools sent one or more classes home last week for corona-related reasons, the General Association of School Leaders (AVS) reports Tuesday. At 1.3 percent of the schools, all pupils and teachers even had to stay at home.
Primary schools were allowed to reopen under certain conditions from 8 February. For example, an entire class must be quarantined if one of the classmates or the teacher has tested positive for the corona virus.
This appears to be common practice: according to the AVS poll, 51 percent of the more than fourteen hundred school directors surveyed sent students home last week. While 1.3 percent of the schools had to close their doors completely, 49 percent of the schools were able to receive all classes.
The AVS estimates that almost 220,000 of approximately 1.6 million primary school students have been quarantined at home. According to the organization, the figures show that education personnel should receive priority vaccination against COVID-19.
According to chairman Petra van Haren, the pressure on school leaders is great: “They are constantly looking for replacements to prevent children from having to go home.” Of the school leaders who took part in the survey, 60 percent had to deploy substitutes last week. “This is not easy due to the staff shortage”, says Van Haren.
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