DThe slippery conditions in Frankfurt are forecast for late lunchtime. Nevertheless, the doorbell rings for the first time a good two hours earlier. The good-humored first-grader returns from school an hour earlier than usual. And he has saved himself the detour to the afternoon care center, because there had been a warning about slippery conditions and freezing rain the evening before – with a request to offer a solution at home for the afternoon.
It didn't work out so well everywhere. This caught the attention of District Administrator Robert Niedergesäß (CSU) in Ebersberg, east of Munich. He had to apologize on the social network Facebook for providing information to families and teachers too late. It was a “far too short-term decision” and it was “unacceptable” for those involved, he wrote verbosely in his post.
It was only on Wednesday morning around half past six that the road maintenance department and police had assessed that the road conditions were risky. A “weather coordination group” started a reporting chain about half an hour later. By the time bus drivers and families were informed, it was already too late.
Regulations ensure a lack of care
The wintry conditions caused a care crisis for families nationwide on Wednesday. In many cases, the schools had informed the evening before. Based on their information, parents with three children easily had four different care scenarios: canceled lessons, school at your own risk, lessons until after a certain hour, closed after-school care.
In the special cases in which young people from one family go to school in two different federal states, it was even more confusing. In Saarland, for example, the Ministry of Education has given schools the freedom to decide whether lessons take place.
Most have canceled in-person classes. In the neighboring state of Rhineland-Palatinate, schools coordinate with local providers and, if necessary, emergency care has been set up. Hesse leaves it up to the parents. This also applies to North Rhine-Westphalia, unless the districts suspend face-to-face operations. In Bavaria, the districts decide.
Homeschooling only takes place in exceptional cases
Only one was rarely read about: homeschooling, digital distance learning that was successfully introduced in many places during the pandemic, but failed in terms of equipment and competence in the post-pandemic period. Quite a few schools have switched to homeschooling due to the weather, said Anja Bensinger-Stolze, who is responsible for schools on the board of the Education and Science Union (GEW), to the FAZ
“These are the schools that are well equipped overall.” Schools with trained staff, WiFi capacities and materials are successful. At other schools, the shortage of teachers prevents them from changing their teaching at short notice. She therefore welcomed the fact that the Conference of Ministers of Education under the new President Christine Streichert-Clivot (SPD) called for the digital pact to be continued.
But at least the authorities were generous towards students who had to take their first major exam early in the year. High school graduates in Rhineland-Palatinate should not learn for free. The English final exams took place as planned. Postponing the exams would not have been proportionate, the Ministry of Education said. However, anyone who did not make it to the exam in time due to the weather should be given the opportunity to retake it.
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