Munich (dpa / lby) – After a longer corona-related ban, pregnant teachers in Bavaria are now allowed to teach again if they want to. According to the Ministry of Education, they have been allowed to give face-to-face classes again since Tuesday – but there is no obligation. The applicable labor and maternity protection must be observed when they are deployed, the protection of pregnant women and their unborn children is the top priority, the ministry emphasized.
According to the ministry, a special practical guide was created for this and sent out last week. It is intended to support school administrations in assessing the risk to pregnant teachers in everyday school life.
Minister of Education Michael Piazolo (Free Voters) only publicly announced the lifting of the ban on pregnant teachers entering the school after the cabinet meeting on the first day of school. The short-term regulation caused a lot of criticism from teachers’ associations. The Bavarian teachers’ association complained that the schools were informed of the practical guidelines far too quickly. Implementation must now be guaranteed without proper preparation and information.
The Bavarian Realschule Teachers’ Association (brlv), for example, complained that according to the regulation, pregnant women should enter the school outside of the usual peak times and if possible use their own office. “Conditions are required here that are far from reality and completely overwhelm our schools,” said the chairman of the brlv, Jürgen Böhm.
The Bavarian Association of Philologists (bpv) criticized the fact that the responsibility was handed over to the school management, which had to assess the health situation of the teachers. “The result of the negotiations between the social, health and education ministries on the use of pregnant women in schools is not convincing,” explained bpv board member Stefan Düll.
The Ministry of Education rejected the criticism. One had only returned to a regulation that existed before the corona pandemic. A similar rule applies in most other federal states. In addition, the ministry argued that the school management had been informed at an early stage about the further steps and measures.
