Story

What Missouri Schools Can Learn From How Germany Has Handled School Reopenings

Students leave Karl-Schiller-Berufskolleg in Brühl, a secondary school outside Cologne, Germany. Students are required by the school to wear masks on schools grounds. Image by Ryan Delaney. Germany, 2020.

Students leave Karl-Schiller-Berufskolleg in Brühl, a secondary school outside Cologne, Germany. Students are required to wear masks on school grounds. Image by Ryan Delaney. Germany, 2020.

In St. Louis, many public school districts are just beginning to bring students back for in-person instruction. Saying it’s still not safe, other districts continue to offer only a virtual model. But in Germany, things look much different. School was in session last spring, and it resumed in person again in August—and not just for little kids, either.

St. Louis Public Radio education reporter Ryan Delaney is in Germany for one month, thanks to the Education Writers Association and the Pulitzer Center. He joined St. Louis on the Air Wednesday from Berlin to discuss what he’s learned about the German way of handling education in the pandemic.