Parent representatives are calling for tougher corona measures in schools. One of them should be the compulsory vaccination for teachers.
Berlin – The winter months are approaching. With regard to last year, a sharp increase in corona cases is to be expected again over the winter. In November 2020, the number of cases exploded and heralded the toughest lockdown in the country to date.
Young people suffered particularly from the Corona measures. Schools stayed empty and lessons were moved to the digital classroom. At the moment, lessons are taking place under “normal” conditions as far as possible. But the number of infections is rising again and parents’ representatives and patient protection organizations now see it as their duty to react. You are calling for tougher corona measures in schools for the coming winter time.
Corona measures in schools: parent representatives are calling for teachers to be vaccinated
Teachers are at the center of the demands. Ines Weber, board member of the Federal Parents’ Council, demanded that all teachers be vaccinated. This must be “legally stipulated by the federal government”, Weber explained in a conversation with the newspapers of the Funke media group. In addition, entire school classes must be prevented from going into quarantine or schools from being closed due to corona outbreaks. But the Association for Education and Upbringing had already rejected calls for teachers to be vaccinated several months ago. Union leader Udo Beckmann pointed out in July that the occupational group was mostly vaccinated, the vaccination quota was in some cases 90 percent. The federal government rejects vaccination obligations in principle.
There are currently no nationwide corona regulations for schools. The measures in educational institutions are a matter for the federal states. So far, however, in most federal states it was compulsory to wear a mask in schools. This has recently been relaxed in many places. Weekly corona tests for unvaccinated students are still available in all federal states.
SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach also recently referred to the dangers of the “cold season”. Neither infection of the children nor constant quarantine are acceptable, Lauterbach wrote on Twitter. “The best solution is therefore: test twice a week. If 1 child is positive: test all children in the morning for 5 days. Only rapid tests, ”suggested the SPD MP.
Vaccination requirements can be enforced in Germany, but they are extremely rare. One example is the mandatory proof of immunization for measles for children who are to attend daycare centers or schools. In this case, teachers are also affected by the compulsory vaccination. According to the Infection Protection Act, the Federal Ministry of Health can order “that threatened parts of the population” have to take part in protective vaccinations.
From the point of view of some critics, however, a vaccination regulation violates the German Basic Law. In the case of measles vaccination, too, the opinion is often expressed that it is an interference with the physical integrity. (aa / dpa)
