It is legitimate for students to be required to take self-assessments at school. The Administrative Court of Berlin has rejected several urgent applications directed against the measure. The applicants had criticized a rule of the Corona Ordinance and orders from the responsible Senate administration, according to which participation in face-to-face classes is only permitted if students test themselves for the corona virus twice a week.

The third chamber rejected the urgent applications. In an earlier case, she had already decided that compulsory testing in schools did not raise any serious concerns. It is formally lawful and can also be ordered as a necessary protective measure regardless of whether the Bundestag has identified an epidemic situation of national importance.

The legislature deliberately gave the states some leeway, the court said in its reasoning. There is also no impermissible unequal treatment of students compared to employees, for example in office buildings, for which testing is no longer compulsory. Because in the latter case it is basically easier to implement the hygiene measures than in schools.

The court also considers the fact that vaccinated and recovered students are not exempt from the obligation to be tested to be unproblematic. Because the Robert Koch Institute estimates the overall risk of Covid-19 for the health of the population in Germany to be high. Vaccination or recovery alone does not rule out infection.

In addition, students who do not want to be tested at school could go to the test center and submit a certificate to the school. Berlin is now the only federal state that mandates compulsory testing in schools. Complaints can be lodged with the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court against the decisions.

The Hamburg Administrative Court recently ruled on a similar case. In April, the urgent application of a vaccinated high school student and a vaccinated elementary school student against the compulsory mask and corona test in schools was granted. These are interferences with the right of the applicants to school education and therefore need a basis in a legal regulation, explained the court. However, the containment ordinance does not contain any full regulations for the mask and test requirements in schools. The Hamburg school authorities briefly lifted the mask and test requirements.