Students attend class at the Christophorusschule school in Rostock, northern Germany, on Aug 3, 2020, as school resumed after the summer break in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern , amid a Coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic. — AFPThousands of children in northern Germany became the first in Europe to begin a new school year on Monday, with the rest of the country watching anxiously as full-time classes began after months of curtailed hours over the coronavirus pandemic.
Education ministers of Germany’s 16 states had agreed that schools will reopen full-time after the summer break, after offering only partial hours in the weeks when the lockdown was eased. Strict rules have been drawn up to limit transmission of the new coronavirus, with cases across Germany rising above 500 per day in recent weeks.
Masks must be worn in the corridors, classrooms regularly ventilated and pupils are required to wash their hands regularly and avoid hugging.