Waldorf at a dead end

This might be the description of the situation of the Waldorf high-school of letters in Simeria, which, for lack of pupils, this year doesn’t have a 9th grade. One of the biggest educational systems worldwide is the Waldorf system. In Romania the Waldorf idea showed up right after the revolution.

We wanted to find out why a situation like this occurred, not having a 9th grade after four generations of high-school pupils, and we had a discussion with the director of the high-school: „this is about mentality, this is about the image each parent has with regard to the Waldorf methodology”. Not even the vice-mayor of the town of Simeria, Pavel Hategan, has any idea about the concept of a Waldorf high-school, saying nonchalantly: “I don’t know what this means and what the difference between this school and a public school is. I only granted the approvals and the money”.

The director of the high-school states that lately, they received a little more money than usually, but not enough, since it was only 20% of what is needed for each year. The rest of the money comes from Switzerland and other countries where Waldorf schools are private schools, and funds for administration are covered entirely by the children’s parents. „These cannot afford to pay the same taxes as abroad, since the necessary fund reaches over 100 thousand RON, and the total amount parents pay annually is 40 thousand RON” – Dan Rebeles declared.

The Waldorf system is different as for the approach to curriculum, which primarily is based on the individual development of each child. Teachers have supplementary training both in psycho-pedagogy, and in curricula of the Waldorf school network: eurhythmy, sculpting, modeling; subjects that develop the artistic character of the child. The newest system in Romania faces several problems regarding educational legislation, since it is categorized into the norms of the public education system. After the 1st grade in a public school, the child’s head is full of things taught: he knows how to read, how to write, to add, to subtract, without having his hand well formed, while in a Waldorf, the child doesn’t know how to write until the 2nd grade, but in the 1st grade, he is discovering the world. One of the major issues of this system is that pupils undergo a capacity test before being prepared. „There are many things required from children for the capacity test and maybe those will never be useful. The Waldorf system attempts to make each child be capable of making a correct decision in life, without talking their heads off with useless stuff!” – Daniel Rebeles declared.

The schoolmaster, Daniel Rebeles hopes that very soon, parents and children will mind this school more, and he requested the re-establishment of the 9th grade in the school for next year. Even if the buildings of the school are not finished, with the help of the generations of children and with proper resources, construction goes on, with materials received through sponsorship from various companies: “There is more to be done, but we keep working because this school is needed and nobody helps us unless we help ourselves first”.

Rebeles Daniel