Beautiful Virgin Islands

Friday, Oct 03, 2025

Germany is reopening its schools and the world is watching

The country has recorded a high number of cases, but far fewer deaths than Spain, France, Italy or the UK.

When is the right time to open up schools, to welcome back pupils and allow student life to feel the same again?

It is a question that is challenging governments across the world, particularly in Europe. But after weeks of plaudits about how it has handled the pandemic, Germany is about to take a small but significant step towards a sort of normality.

In the coming days, children from two school years will be going back to the classroom.

Well, at least some of them will, in some regions, on some days. It is a toe in the water, but an important one.

A decision about the wider return to school is also due in the coming days, but for two year groups the doors will be open.

Pupils who are either about to make the move from primary school to secondary school or those about to take exams will be welcomed back.

But they will have to abide by strict hygiene and social distancing rules. Easy to say but perhaps not so easy to maintain when your subjects are young children excited to see their friends again.

Education is a devolved responsibility in Germany, which is why Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to reopen schools in the coming days came only after a conference call with leaders of the 16 states.

Some are keen to bring children back into the classroom. Others, such as Bavaria, which has been badly hit by the virus, are more wary.

Bavaria has delayed the opening of any schools until 11 May. There are lively arguments about whether it is more decisive to push through the return - or to wait.

And that impression is important. Prominent figures within the ruling CDU party are dealing with the virus while keeping half an eye on the impending leadership contest.

Politics, as ever, does not exist in a vacuum, although the identity of the new leader may not be decided until later in the year.

Few, after all, doubt that Angela Merkel has handled this crisis with the confidence of a trained scientist who also happens to be the German chancellor.

There is little appetite for a leadership contest at the moment, but the candidates are keen to emerge from the pandemic with credit.

Certainly Germany feels different. In Dusseldorf, as across the country, small shops have been allowed to open as long as they follow guidelines on social distancing.

There is a queue of a dozen people outside one clothes shop. A mobile phone shop is doing a roaring trade. It feels like a culture shock to be in a city where you can simply wander in and out of non-essential stores.

At the city's international school, a few pupils have already returned to the classroom, and they are making preparations for the return of two year groups.

Eileen Lyons, the school's director, says it will be difficult, but insists the school will cope.

She told Sky News: "We have set up the classrooms to have the social distancing of two metres - not just one and a half - and we've put in place all the signs and the equipment. We won't insist on masks, but we will encourage them.

"We've been kept informed all the way through. The pandemic has been hugely disruptive and returning will be hugely challenging but I'm confident we will manage it."

Germany has received many plaudits for its performance during this epidemic. The country has recorded a high number of cases, but far fewer deaths than Spain, France, Italy or the UK.

Many have looked at its record of investment in health facilities, in testing and tracing.

Now, they look at something else - how Germany will manage this gradual return to something like normal life.

At the moment there are no dates for the sporting events to restart, no consensus on when normal travel can resume. The return of other pupils awaits a decision, along with big shops.

But there is a kind of impetus here, as there is in some other European nations.

The question they all ask, though, is profound: How to balance the need to reopen life with the fear of a resurgence of the virus?

That is why, as it prepares to welcome back some of its millions of schoolchildren, much of the world will once again be watching Germany, and waiting to see what happens next.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×