Raubling: Gym finally opened for sports again!

Raubling: Gym finally opened for sports again!

After almost three years as accommodation for refugees, the gymnasium of the Inntal-Gymnasium in Raubling was reopened for physical education classes today. The official opening represented an important step in regaining the sporting infrastructure for the students. District Administrator Otto Lederer, Mayor Olaf Kalsperger and Headmaster Anton Seitz were among those present to celebrate this special day. Lederer thanked everyone involved, especially the school, the clubs and the neighborhood, who had shown understanding for the use of the hall as accommodation. Following the release, all gyms used in the district are now back in sport, which is important not only for the school, but also for the local community. Radio Charivari reported.

The gymnasium has been used as refugee accommodation for two years, which has severely restricted physical education classes for the high school's approximately 900 students. Instead of regular physical education lessons, the students often had to wait weeks to be able to train in the hall. At least some sports lessons took place in other schools or temporary rooms, but this did not provide the ideal conditions for the necessary exercise. However, from the second half of the school year there will be new solutions that are intended to improve the situation. The sports hall at the Michael Ende School and the community hall, among others, are being planned as alternatives. OVB Online reports that despite the return of the gymnasium, there are currently 318 places for refugees in the hall and around 190 refugees live there.

Challenges of refugee accommodation

The refugees mostly come from Ukraine, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Turkey and Yemen and are housed in hoarding boxes that are combined with sanitary containers for the showers. Parents of the students criticize the conditions and demand that more container accommodation be made available as soon as possible. The Bavarian Ministry of Culture has already emphasized that the accommodation of refugees is a task for society as a whole, and there are applications for container solutions in order to achieve more solidarity among the communities in the district. The mayor of Raubling, Olaf Kalsperger, calls for a good hand from other municipalities in order to overcome this challenge together.

A total of 5,646 refugees currently live in the Rosenheim district, of which 5.9% live in Raubling. The topic of integrating refugees, including through school sports, has already been examined in various academic works. One example is the essay by Johanna Abele, which deals with the possibilities of integration through school sports and extracurricular activities. Pedagogy specialist portal highlights the importance of showing solidarity and working together on solutions.