Students from Bad Orb overcome pandemic hurdles: 71 degrees celebrated!

Students from Bad Orb overcome pandemic hurdles: 71 degrees celebrated!

A moving graduation ceremony took place in Bad Orb for 72 students from the Bad Orb district school. Headmistress Ute Lehmann celebrated with great pride that of the 72 qualifications in the class, 71 were successfully achieved. These successes are particularly notable since the vintage suffered from the significant effects of the corona pandemic. The students had to deal with alternating and distance learning during their time at school, which had a major impact on their everyday lives. Lehmann remembers the first day of school for 75 new students six years ago and discussed the challenges the students had to overcome during that time.

“It is important to make plans, set goals and develop strategies to achieve them,” Lehmann urged the graduates. This seems particularly relevant when considering the general learning situation. An analysis by the German Economic Institute has found that school closures during the pandemic resulted in a significant decline in student skills, with the proportion of students failing to meet minimum standards in mathematics, for example, rising from 18% in 2012 to almost 30% in 2022. The impact of this trend could also have a serious impact in future years, as highlighted in a research and teaching report.

Outstanding achievements recognized

During the ceremony, the best students in the classes were honored in various subjects. Mia Hessberger achieved the best performance in German in class 10a with an impressive 97 out of 100 points. In class 10b, Ihsan Dudic and Svea Münch were also the best with 97 points in English, and the math talents Maike Euler and Vladislav Botnaruk from class 10c achieved a very good 78 out of 80 points.

Viola Holzmann honored the best in the class on behalf of the school parents' council. In addition, social commitment and integration into the school community were also rewarded. Marlon Firnges (10a), Maximilian Schreiber (10b) and Maike Euler (10c) were honored for their commitment. The student council, consisting of Vlad Botnaruk, Daniel Dilevschi, Mariette Lehr, Jana Schutt and Paula Koch, was able to provide positive impulses for the school thanks to their commitment.

Shared support and outlook

Mayor Tobias Weisbecker and the mayor of Flörsbachtal, Sibylle Hergert, did not miss the opportunity to congratulate the graduates and emphasized the value of each individual and the importance of commitment after school. This address was particularly important given the challenges students have had to overcome due to the pandemic. The students and their families are encouraged to take advantage of the opportunities available and to actively shape them so that the negative effects on the level of education can at least be mitigated.

The design of future educational paths must now, on the one hand, deal with the setbacks suffered from the pandemic, but on the other hand also create new opportunities to strengthen the education system. There is a need for action here, particularly for children from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds and students with an immigrant background, for whom the challenges in learning development were particularly serious. It remains to be seen how educational policy will respond to this; after all, future cohorts depend on the commitment of everyone involved in order to ensure sustainable learning success.