Berlin’s Universities and Colleges Agree: Plans to Hold Winter Semester in Person Underway
Joint press release from Berlin’s Senate Department for Higher Education and Research, Health, Long-Term Care, and Gender Equality and the State Conference of the Rectors and Presidents of the Higher Education Institutions in Berlin
№ 119/2022 from Jul 14, 2022
Universities and colleges in Berlin have announced their plans to carry out the upcoming 2022/2023 winter semester in person. The specific details of these plans can be found in the key issues paper, created by the State Conference of the Rectors and Presidents of the Higher Education Institutions in Berlin (LKRP) and the Senate Department for Higher Education and Research, Health, Long-Term Care, and Gender Equality, which lays out the agreements that will take effect in the current semester. The key issues paper takes state-wide regulations into account and will be regularly updated and adapted based on the current state of affairs. The paper continues to allow for in-person teaching to be supplemented with online courses, particularly in light of the pandemic or when required by a particular educational approach. Once again, the universities ask that all students, employees, and guests continue to voluntarily wear an FFP2 mask when on campus and when meeting in groups. This simple preventative measure was a key reason why universities were able to continue operations during the summer semester. As such, masks will remain an important part of everyday university life in the fall semester, when it is expected that measures will be tightened once more.
Permanent Secretary for Higher Education, Research, and Gender Equality Armaghan Naghipour commented: “I am delighted that Berlin’s universities and the Senate Department for Higher Education are continuing to communicate on a regular basis regarding developments of the Covid-19 pandemic, and that their joint task force has been able to agree upon a common framework for the upcoming semester with an updated key issues paper. Both the task force and the paper have been important cornerstones of our approach to dealing with the pandemic over the past two years, allowing us to agree upon common goals and policies that balance health with education. In addition, protecting vulnerable groups must continue to be a principal aim of any agreements that we may make or adapt in the upcoming semester.”
The chair of the LKRP and president of Freie Universität Berlin, Professor Günter M. Ziegler, emphasized that Berlin’s colleges and universities have learned much over the past two and a half years. They are now better equipped to create a safe environment for day-to-day study and work on campus, as well as to protect the health of students, employees, and guests. “We were overjoyed to be able to welcome students and staff back on campus in April, and are planning to hold the upcoming 2022/2023 winter semester in person as far as possible.”
The Covid-19 Task Force of the Berlin Senate Department for Higher Education and Research, Health, Long-Term Care, and Gender Equality together with Berlin’s colleges and universities under the guidance of Berlin’s State Secretary for Higher Education and Research will continue to observe and assess the course of the pandemic at regular intervals. They will also continue to examine whether the basic rules and regulations in place need to be revised or updated depending on how the situation develops.
Link to the key issues paper:
https://www.berlin.de/sen/wissenschaft/service/corona-massnahmen/