Meanwhile, letters from parents from schools show that they deal differently with schoolwork during the planned lockdown period – at the same time, they suggest that parents are often overwhelmed with the decision whether or not to send their child to school. From today, Monday, until December 12th, there is again a lockdown (Upper Austria: December 17th). Schools, among others, are excluded. There is a clear rule in and of itself: The lessons (with mask and corona test compulsory) take place according to the schedule – but if you don’t want to come, you don’t have to. All that is required is an apology from the parents.
Ministry of Education requirements stretchable
But the implications are tough – among other things, questions arise such as how to deal with schoolwork and tests or helping out with the teaching of the material for those who stayed at home. The requirements of the Ministry of Education are flexible here. For example, tests and schoolwork should “not take place if possible”. The teaching content should be “adapted to the circumstances”. Anyone who does not take part in face-to-face lessons must be given “learning and practice tasks” that have to be worked out themselves – with the teachers being available to answer questions “if feasible”.
That should have led to a real bombing of mail and phone calls with the directors, as various letters from parents suggest. One school principal speaks of an “unreasonable decision” for the parents and recommends “for the time being” to take part in face-to-face lessons, others decidedly avoid any kind of recommendation requested by the parents.
Test depending on the planned attendance of the students
At one school, schoolwork should be carried out at least in the first few days with the appropriate protective provisions, as the children would have already prepared for it. Others cancel this, while others make the decision for each class depending on the feedback from parents or the planned presence of the students.
Most schools put the “learning and work packages” in concrete terms: This primarily concerns information about the chapters or examples in the books planned or completed during this period as well as the homework. Teachers can stream their lessons at the same time, but are not required to do so. Practically all schools make one thing clear: Since the requirement currently provides for normal face-to-face teaching, all teachers are needed for the time being – in this respect, distance learning is fundamentally not possible for those who stayed at home.
The Christian trade unionists in the AHS teachers ‘council, who, along with Herbert Weiß, are also the chairman of the AHS teachers’ union, advocate keeping the schools open in a broadcast. At the same time, however, they also demand that decisions about closing classes or switching to distance learning must also be possible at school level. The AHS directors had already called for something similar on Friday.
Source From: Nachrichten
