[ANSWERED] PA Systems in German Schools

[nightrose83]

Hi all,

Couldn't find a definitive answer on this one, so I decided to ask:

Did former West German schools (for the most part) have PA systems in the 60s-70s? I Googled things like 'West German school PA systems 1960s/70s and nothing's really come up. Thanks for any help!

EDIT 2:ANSWERED. Thank you!

Comments

[syredronning]

Hi - it might help to explain what you mean by "PA systems," as I for one have no clue what your're talking about :)

[dorsetgirl]

It's short for "public address systems" - so there would be a microphone in maybe the Head's office and speakers around the corridors or classrooms.

We don't have them in schools in the UK, but the term is commonly used for any kind of microphone-and-speaker setup, from one microphone at a school fête to the huge stacks of speakers you get at a rock concert. Often shortened to just "PA".

[syredronning]

Ah, thank you!

[ffutures]

We don't have them in schools in the UK

Depends on the school. I work in one that does.

[sidheag]

Do they even have them now? UK schools I've known don't. Your searches may be failing because the phenomenon of PA systems in schools is unknown in Europe (generalizing beyond my experience here!)

[dorianegray]

We had one in my secondary school (Dublin, Ireland, 1980s). I don't think they're that uncommon.

[ffutures]

Some schools in the UK have them. I work in one of them.

[veradee]

I would imagine that at least some of the schools have one for emergency cases. But they certainly aren't used on a regular basis. Actually, I can't imagine what one might want to use them for. To announce when classes begin and end bells are used.

[syredronning]

See Lizzardgirl's comment below, that's my experience too that they were used for announcements and calling people to the office.

[veradee]

That definitely never happened at the schools I attended. I don't even know whether my schools had a PA system.

[syredronning]

Interesting. Which decades, which school types? *curious*

[lizzardgirl]

Our school had one; it was usually used for things like calling people into the office or for making announcements about immediate changes to schedules or things, or reminders about student assemblies or the like. In my earlier years at school, this was very much not a regular thing to happen. Being called into the office meant something serious. But in later years it got more and more that teachers used them as billboards or the like, some teachers being known for making very long-winded announcements that got really annoying. And you could be called into the office for something like your dad having forgot his keys and needing yours (happened to a classmate of mine

[inamac]

I expect it depends on when the school was built as it would be expensive to install a system into an older building. My school (in England) had three separate buildings, one built in the 1600s, one Victorian building, and a new 1970s building holding the science labs - only the latter had a PA system.