First day of school after the Easter holidays Do pupils in the region continue to wear masks voluntarily?
Rhein-Sieg-Kreis · The compulsory test is gone, the compulsory mask as well. And now? Will schoolchildren in the region continue to wear masks voluntarily? The General-Anzeiger asked these questions in several schools on the first school day after the Easter holidays.
The legal obligation to wear protective masks in class no longer exists. The Corona test obligation has also been abolished. Nevertheless, schools in the Rhein-Sieg district are trying to prevent infections with the help of parents and pupils. This was the result of a survey by the GA on Monday.
"By far the majority of the 185 pupils continue to wear a mask in class, about 90 percent," says Irmine Strotmann, the acting head of the St Martin primary school in Bad Honnef. This works because the children are used to wearing masks. Although the school management is in favour of wearing a mask, no appeal has been made to the parents. Strotmann said she felt a certain insecurity because of the abolition of compulsory testing. But the parents would inform the school directly if their child showed symptoms of a cold. Otherwise, the teachers continue to observe hygiene rules, such as washing their hands. They try to keep their distance from each other and air the classrooms regularly.
Maria Orth, the head of Rheinbach's Sankt Martin primary school, found on the first day after the Easter holidays that about 90 percent of her 273 pupils continued to wear masks, on a voluntary basis. Maria Orth does not fear that infected children will carry the virus into school after the testing obligation is lifted. She trusts the parents. They are very sensitive to the issue and would leave their child at home if it had cold symptoms.
Beatrix Glaser is head of the municipal grammar school in Hennef. She estimates that 80 to 85 percent of the 1,050 pupils wear masks. In the older grades, however, this rate is decreasing. "Before the holidays, we appealed for tolerance in both directions. We don't want to put anyone under pressure," says Glaser. Everyone in the college wears a mask. Nevertheless, there is "a certain insecurity". Glaser explains: "We are curious to see what effect it has when infections are detected too late." She knows that many parents have their children with colds tested. The problem, however, is the symptom-free children.
At the primary school in Königswinter-Stieldorf, most of the 242 children no longer wear masks, according to headmistress Dagmar Lang. "It is a slow approach to normality," she says. She personally has no fear of infection at school either: "We have to get used to living with the virus." The abolition of compulsory testing has not changed that much. Parents would inform the school immediately if their child felt ill or was infected. (Original text: Hans-Peter Fuss / Translation: Mareike Graepel)
