Tue, 13 Jan 2004

Argentinian Waldorf school fighting for survival

London, 13 January (NNA) – A small but thriving rural Waldorf school in the Argentinean province of Córdoba faces closure unless it can raise the US$7000 (£3776, €5454) it needs to keep going this year.

According to a report in “Southern Cross Review” with an appeal for donations, the Escuela El Trigal in Villa de las Rosas about 500 miles north-west of Buenos Aires will not survive unless it receives outside help: “It will not always be so, but that it the reality now,” the appeal says.

The school, whose catchment area covers 25 kilometres, currently has 32 pupils – an increase of 100 percent from the previous year. It is situated in a region where parents are often only able to pay minimum fees, if any, although that is made up to some extent by a number of families who pay considerably more than the current fees of US$16 (£9, €12) per month. This situation, combined with the country’s economic crisis of two years ago, from which Argentina is only slowly recovering, has led to the current financial difficulties.

According to the report, teachers at the school earn about US$150 (£80, €116) per month, but social security payments increase the cost to the school to about $220 (£118, €171). Then there are administrative, building maintenance, construction and other costs. Parents are building a new classroom themselves right at this moment. The cost of building materials comes from a donation. The additional classroom is needed because of an increase in pupils in 2004.

The situation is all the more urgent as the school has received an outstanding inspection report from the provincial education ministry.

“I visited the fourth, second and first grades,” the inspector writes. “In all three grades the teachers demonstrated a high degree of commitment and qualification for the specific task at hand and for the Waldorf methodology.

“The children demonstrate a high degree of participation. They respond with coherence, interest and they communicate with a very special spontaneity and harmony. I observed a personalized communication style, finely tuned to the pace and personality needs of each pupil.”

In another section she comments: “It is important to mention the parents’ dedication in respect to construction, maintenance and improvements in all areas of the school… These tasks are undertaken systematically by themselves or together with teachers and pupils.”

The inspector concludes her assessment: “I congratulate the principal and the team of teachers for the work they are doing and their dedication to education, encouraging them to continue on their chosen path.”

end/cva

To make a donation see end of report at: http://southerncrossreview.org/gift.html

Item: N040113-01EN Date: 13 January 2004

More NNA reports at: http://www.nna-news.org/content/