“The goal is not to have an air filter in every room”: Berlin schoolchildren still learn from open windows after the holidays

In many Berlin schools, ventilation through the window is the only means. “The goal is not to have air filters in every room,” said a spokesman for the Education Administration. hanging local ventilation status From. The country hosts 7,748 mobile devices. At the start of school in late summer, almost every third grader is a must-have devicespokesman said. It is not clear whether this is sufficient.

The state is not responsible if the windows cannot be opened, it is said – because the districts are responsible for the structural measures. The cost of air purification equipment was 15 million euros. At the end of the school year, 55 percent of the 7,748 devices were well distributed.

The equipment is important because the coronavirus spreads primarily through aerosols from the air we breathe – the more people in a room, the faster and faster. Many other federal states still do not have an overview of how many air filter systems are newly installed in schools. This was the result of a recent question by Dainik Darpan between the education ministries.

For example, Saxony said, “municipalities/agencies are responsible for the purchase and installation of air filters.” Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania were also unable to say how many devices were procured – although in some cases they also subsidize them from state funds.

All schools in Hamburg have ventilation devices

Rhineland-Palatinate reported that 1,100 devices were financed by a state funding programme. Bavaria funded the school authorities for 14,100 devices, but did not know how many of them had already been distributed. About 200 classrooms have been equipped in the Saarland. Hamburg’s school senator Tice Rabe (SPD) recently promised that all schools should have equipment by the end of the holiday.

From the point of view of the German Teachers’ Association, the situation in schools is no better than in the past year in terms of infection protection. Only a few federal states have funding programs for mobile room air filter systems. In addition, many countries in the third wave hesitated for too long with requiring masks, said association president Heinz-Peter Meidinger.

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Meidinger welcomed the Federal Ministry of Economics’ new funding program for a room air filter system. At the same time, however, he feared that the lengthy application process before the start of school would not change. Meidinger also criticized the fact that the Education Ministers’ Conference had not yet made any recommendations to school officials about room air filters. Teachers’ union estimates that 20 percent of classrooms have poor ventilation and less than five percent of classrooms have filter systems. A nationwide list is still missing today.