«We must also protect the teachers»

Ms Rösler, on Wednesday, 13 January, the Federal Council adopted new measures against the coronavirus, including the 5-person rule. With regard to schools, the ball is in the cantons' court. What do you think of this decision?

I know that the cantons are currently consulting on various measures with stricter rules for schools. The Federal Council has announced new measures specifically for schools for 20 January. Depending on how the Federal Council categorises the situation, there will be different rules for the cantons. Or the government will impose nationwide measures if it deems the situation to be exceptional. There is an urgent need to discuss further protection concepts. One wonders why only five people are allowed to meet, while up to 25 children and teachers are in one room at the same time in school classes. However, it is still the case that school closures are seen as a last resort and that compulsory school levels in particular should only be closed if all other measures have been exhausted.

There is an urgent need to discuss further protection concepts for schools.

There are alternatives to school closures. What do you think of half-class lessons or compulsory masks for younger children?

I think that a mask requirement could be introduced from year 5 or 6. Children of that age know how to wear a mask. They are less dependent on teachers' facial expressions than younger children. For them, it simply doesn't make sense to make masks compulsory in school lessons.
There are still some organisational questions for me when it comes to half-class lessons. How are the children who are at home supposed to be looked after while the other half of the class is in the classroom? It's also an organisational balancing act for parents to look after their children at home for a week and then send them back to school for a week.

What is the mood among the teachers? Do they feel sufficiently protected?

So far, the mood has been stable and many teachers are vehemently in favour of schools being allowed to remain open. And a great deal is being done to achieve this: those responsible in the schools are cleaning, ventilating, disinfecting, complying with social distancing rules as best they can, and so on. But you have to be careful that the mood doesn't change. It's now becoming clear that we finally have to think about the teachers as well in order to protect them in particular. If you want to keep schools open, you have to do something about it. One idea, for example, would be air purifiers or better masks for teachers, or even prioritisation in the coronavirus vaccination plan for those who want to be vaccinated.

There are studies that show that children are not the drivers of the pandemic, that serious learning deficits result from distance learning and that vulnerable children have suffered even more during the first lockdown. These and many other reasons speak in favour of not closing schools. On the other hand, there is also the ETH mobility study, which concludes that the school closures in spring did indeed reduce the mobility rate, which would argue in favour of repeating this measure. How do you weigh up these studies?

I am aware that there is a counter-study for every study. I'm not a virologist or a doctor and I follow the recommendations of the Federal Council's task force. It has just confirmed once again that children are not the drivers of the pandemic and that schools are considered a safe place, meaning that few infections occur there. I have a few question marks about the ETH mobility study. Among other things, the study analysed mobile phone data that travelled through several postcode areas. Logically, vocational students, for example, move around more, while primary school students usually have their school in the same postcode area. Most primary school pupils are not yet allowed to take their mobile phones - if they have one - to school. I suspect that the 1st to 6th graders were not even included in this study. In my opinion, not all the data needed to argue in favour of a general school closure was taken into account here.

So you couldn't imagine a general school closure, but a partial one , for example for higher levels?

Yes, you could indeed consider that. Many young people can study well at home, are motivated and have the necessary infrastructure. Of course, we also know that many of them haven't got out of bed in the morning and have spent far too much time at school. Nevertheless, I believe that closing upper secondary schools for a limited period of time would be reasonable. My older daughter, for example, travels twice a week on the overcrowded train to the vocational school in Olten, where 1000 students meet. She wonders why she is only allowed to meet up with four friends in private, but has a large number of contacts at school and on the way there. But even at this level, there are questions about the handling of exams, degrees and so on that have not yet been fully clarified.

What about repeating the school year throughout Switzerland?

This question is not open. However, there are too many unresolved issues for an answer to be given yet. What about exams? Will they also be allowed to be written online if distance learning is introduced again? At the moment, teachers still have to fulfil the requirement that the 2020/2021 school year is recognised as a full school year. But will this remain the case if schools have to close? We need to clarify these questions together with the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education (EDK).

Many parents are happy that their children are still allowed to go to school, while others would prefer to have their children at home. Is a temporary cancellation of compulsory schooling in Switzerland up for debate?

I understand that some parents would like to teach their children at home out of concern about infection. On the other hand, however, I don't think it would currently be expedient for some children in each class to stay at home. For the teacher, having to prepare additional weekly plans and materials for these children is yet another additional expense. I don't know enough about the legal aspects, but I estimate the administrative effort involved in such exceptions to be enormous.

If schools (partially) switch back to distance learning, are they prepared?

Yes, teachers have definitely learnt from the lockdown in spring. They were caught quite cold back then. A lot of work has been done in the meantime and in some cantons there are already directives on distance learning, should it actually be imposed.

What is your personal situation, would your two daughters like to learn at home and how do you see it?

My older daughter would really like to be at home. She would no longer have to make the long journey to school and is also a motivated homeschooler, which would work well. My younger daughter, however, would miss her peers; socialising at school is important for her. Basically, we're lucky that both girls have learnt well at home, so I'm personally not afraid of distance learning again. It could just get a bit tight at home if my husband, our daughters and I were to work at the same time in peace and quiet. But we can manage that too! However, I am fully aware that not everyone will be in such a situation.

Statement by the Association of School Principals VSLCH:

In a non-representative survey, around 600 headteachers in German-speaking Switzerland stated that, according to their estimates, there are currently no more children ill in January 2021 compared to January 2020, or possibly even fewer. The VSLCH emphasises that the assessment of its members is only a snapshot. Nevertheless, the assessment gives an indication that the protection concepts and contact tracing are working very well. For this reason, the Association of Swiss-German School Heads is in favour of not rushing to move lessons from school to home. Closing school buildings in order to reduce the mobility of parents and thus minimise the risk of infection is not an option for the VS.
risk of infection is a sensitive issue for the VSLCH. VSLCH President Thomas Minder comments: «Children must not be instrumentalised in order to restrict parents' mobility. In our opinion, the demand for working from home is more expedient.» (Source: www.vslch.ch)

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