Teachers lament 'chaotic' virus rules in German schools

BERLIN (AP) — Under pressure to ease Germany's virus restrictions, officials last month agreed to gradually reopen schools. Confirmed COVID-19 cases started climbing again, leading some states to backtrack while others pressed on and insisted that in-class teaching must be the rule.

Caught in the middle are students, parents and teachers such as Michael Gromotka, whose plans to teach art to his year 7-9 students were upended last week when the state of Berlin nixed their return to school after months of remote learning.

“It was all very chaotic," Gromotka said. "We got less than a week’s notice.”

Gromotka, who is married to a fellow teacher and has a child in primary school, says the back and forth reflects the absence of a coherent strategy in Germany for how to safely keep schools open.

Authorities in Berlin purchased about 1,900 air filters that experts say will reduce the risk of the virus spreading throughout classrooms. But the available number is only enough to supply each of the capital's 900 schools with about two devices.

Berlin's online teaching platform is so overloaded during the day that some elementary school students must wait until 6:30 p.m. to have their video lessons. More reliable commercial systems were rejected over privacy concerns.

And while Berlin now offers free tests for staff and students, there is no requirement for anybody to take them before going to school.

“Teachers are incredibly worried,” Gromotka told The Associated Press.

He launched a petition demanding that secondary school teachers be given priority when it comes to getting coronavirus vaccines, arguing that they deserve the same protection as elementary school and kindergarten teachers because of the large number of students they come into contact with each week.

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