Parents, students and teachers talk about chaos, Education Minister Heinz Faßmann about autonomy. Despite the lockdown, the schools have so far been open. Faßman last stated: “The schools remain open for everyone who needs them”. Now he is rowing back: the schools should close.
Some school principals complained: where is plan A, B, C? You feel left alone. Student representatives such as the Salzburg state school spokeswoman Theresa Golser also complained: “The hybrid lessons last school year were horrible. Then it’s better to do it completely in distance learning. ”The virologists also explain: A lockdown is only effective if the schools are also closed. In addition, there is the record incidence of 6- to 14-year-olds. It is 2400, far more than in the previous year (below). This means that children and young people are currently the most severely affected age group. The risk of getting infected at school is particularly high.
Faßmann fought vehemently against a “simple” nationwide lockdown for schools until the end. “So far, children and young people have suffered from the pandemic,” he said on Tuesday in the ORF report. “You showed incredible solidarity with the elderly and with my age generation. We should give them back a piece of normality. ” Above all, they needed exchanges with their peers. “