The president of the Conference of Ministers of Education (KMK), Britta Ernst, has announced that all children in Germany should go back to school in March. Alternating classroom and at-home learning, distance requirements and rapid testing should make this possible. 

Pupils in Germany to go back in March, Education Minister insists

Both primary and secondary schools in Germany should be able to reopen in March, Ernst told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND): “In the Standing Conference we are in agreement: We want all pupils to go back to school in March - even if that means alternating lessons at first,” the education minister for Brandenburg said. 

She added that in some federal states where the incidence of COVID-19 is very low, classroom instruction could resume. Adopting an alternating system under which pupils come to school on some days and study at home on others would make it possible for social distancing to be maintained. 

Psychological strain on children too great

Ernst was adamant that schools needed to be reopened soon to ease the psychological strain on children. “Even if the situation is currently different due to the virus mutation, we cannot wait several more weeks,” she said. “Closing schools is too high a social price to pay for that.”

She said that children and young people were suffering greatly from contact restrictions - not only because of the impact on their education, but also psychologically. “That shouldn’t leave us indifferent,” she said.