Munich (dpa / lby) – According to the state government, there are more students than ever before in the Free State: around 403,000 people have registered at Bavarian universities and colleges for the upcoming winter semester under Corona conditions. Science Minister Bernd Sibler (CSU) announced on Monday that this is a good 9,000 more than in the previous year. “This underlines that Bavaria is an attractive place to study.” The number of freshmen has also increased by more than 67,700.
Due to the corona crisis – unlike at universities of applied sciences and technical universities – the lecture period at the universities did not start on October 1st, but rather starts next week (November 2nd). The students expect a mixture of online and face-to-face teaching, said Sibler: “The famous balancing act between presence and precautionary measures remains.” Bavaria’s universities and colleges are still as well prepared as possible for the semester under new conditions.
As many on-site events as possible should be made possible, especially for first-year students and students in their final phase, emphasized Sibler. In addition, the semester will also be characterized by new subjects: Around 50 new courses in all of Bavaria, which include topics such as artificial intelligence or sustainability, will complement the offer in the future: “This breadth makes it clear: We take care of the pressing future topics and new technologies” said the minister.
In Bavaria, there is an upper limit of 200 people for face-to-face courses – taking into account the minimum distance of 1.50 meters. As a survey by the German Press Agency among the ten universities in the Free State showed, there are hardly any rooms that can accommodate this number of students while observing the minimum distance. For introductory events with several hundred students, options should therefore only be realizable as online and hybrid versions.
A mouth and nose cover must be worn where the minimum distance cannot be reliably maintained within the university building. If the corona warning value of 35 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants is exceeded within seven days, a mask is also required on the square, added Sibler.
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