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SCHOOL

Sweden to ban single-sex classrooms

The Swedish government wants to ban schools from separating girls and boys into different classes.

Published: 4 February 2017 08:55 CET
Updated: 4 February 2017 13:35 CET
Sweden to ban single-sex classrooms
Photo: Ann-Sofi Rosenkvist/imagebank.sweden.se
The rule will apply to all subjects, says Education Minister Gustav Fridolin.
 
“If you feel that having girls and boys in the same class causes problems then the problems themselves must be addressed, not avoided by simply splitting the class up,” Fridolin told SR Ekot. 
 
The gender segregation ban will apply to all subjects and schools will be issued with guidance as to how to implement it into the curriculum.
 
“We have seen a number of reports from state school inspectors (Skolinspektionen) where girls and boys have been kept in separate classes for certain subjects for years at a time. We do not think this should be permitted,” said Fridolin to SR Ekot.
 
It is currently acceptable to put boys and girls in different classes provided that the school ensures they receive an equal standard of teaching, reports news agency TT.
 
There are no statistics on the prevalence of gender segregation in Swedish schools, but there has previously been debate on whether schools should separate boys and girls for physical education classes.
 
In autumn 2016, several schools, including a number of Muslim schools, were reported to be separating boys and girls for gym class. Schools have justified the move by saying that it encourages girls to participate in the lessons.

SCHOOL

Bavaria plans 100 million rapid Covid tests to allow all pupils to return to school

In the southern state of Bavaria, schools have been promised 100 million self-tests starting next week so that more children can start being taught in person again. But teachers say the test strategy isn't being implemented properly.

Published: 12 March 2021 17:12 CET
Bavaria plans 100 million rapid Covid tests to allow all pupils to return to school
Children in the classroom in Bavaria. Photo:Matthias Balk/DPA

State leaders Markus Söder said on Friday that the first 11 million of the DIY tests had already arrived and would now be distributed through the state.

“It’s no good in the long run if the testing for the school is outside the school,” Söder told broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) during a visit to a school in Nuremberg.

“Contrary to what has been planned in Berlin, we’ve pre-ordered in Bavaria: for this year we have 100 million tests.”

Bavaria, Germany’s largest state in terms of size, plans to bring all children back into schools starting on Monday.

SEE ALSO: ‘The right thing to do’ – How Germany is reopening its schools

However, high coronavirus case rates mean that these plans have had to be shelved in several regions.

In Nuremberg, the state’s second largest city, primary school children have been sent back into distance learning after just a week back in the classroom.

The city announced on Friday that schools would have to close again after the 7-day incidence rose above 100 per 100,000 inhabitants.

The nearby city of Fürth closed its schools after just two days of classroom time on Wednesday, after the 7-day incidence rose to 135.

The Bavarian test strategy plans for school children to receive one test per week, while teachers have the possibility of taking two tests a week. The testing is not compulsory.

But teachers’ unions in the southern state have warned that the test capacity only exists on paper and have expressed concern that their members will become infected in the workplace.

“Our teachers are afraid of infection,” Almut Wahl, headmistress of a secondary school in Munich, told BR24.

“Officially they are allowed to be tested twice a week, we have already received a letter about this. But the tests are not there.”

BR24 reports that, contrary to promises made by the state government, teachers in many schools have still not been vaccinated, ventilation systems have not been installed in classrooms, and the test infrastructure has not been put in place.

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