Moldova: Liceul Teoretic Waldorf
New sports equipment and furniture for the classrooms in Chișinău
The staff of the Waldorf School in Chișinău would like to upgrade the gym for the approximately 770 pupils. Among other things, they would like to buy a new high bar, a vaulting horse, new ropes and sports mats and new balls. In addition, they need new desks, chairs and blackboards for the four newly built classrooms and suitable furniture and shelves for the school library.
In the near future, the school also plans to build another kindergarten block and laboratories for physics and chemistry classes. Step by step, the school will be modernised and old and broken things will be replaced by new ones.
According to current calculations, the upgrade of the gymnasium and the new furniture for the classrooms and the school library will cost a total of 11,000 euros. However, prices in Moldova can change daily due to the tragic events in Ukraine and the high inflation rate.
About the project:
The Waldorf School IP Liceul Teoretic in Chișinău (Moldova) was founded in 1992. To this day, it is a state institution that fights for its educational autonomy in many rounds of negotiations and combines state requirements with the Waldorf curriculum. A total of about 770 children and young people attend the kindergarten and grades 1 to 12 and are taught and cared for by 54 teachers.
When the country separated from the Soviet Union after its collapse in 1991, a time of new beginnings began and a number of early Waldorf initiatives emerged. To date, however, the Waldorf School in Chișinău is the only Waldorf initiative in the country that has managed to overcome its baby steps and build a viable organism. With a lot of energy and commitment, the people at this school are working on Waldorf educational quality and a real sense of community.
Although the status as a state lyceum gives the pupils the opportunity to complete their school career with the Abitur and provides the school with a certain amount of financial support, the state does not fund subjects such as needlework, painting or eurhythmy. The parents have to pay for them with the school fees. In addition to this, the teachers and parents have been working with a lot of effort to transform the formerly grey rooms into beautiful, inviting classrooms over the years.
Current challenges:
As one of the few alternative schools, the Chișinău Waldorf School often had to apply double standards in order to exist. In addition, the school was required by the authorities to have two parallel classes each and the high demand for education in this school further contributed to the large number of students. However, it was impossible to accommodate such a number of children and young people in the old kindergarten building.
Therefore, they decided at their own risk to expand the school and build four additional classrooms. Thanks to the great financial support of the Friends of Waldorf Education and the participation of the whole Waldorf community, it was possible to build a new building with four classrooms. This has not been easy as the classrooms were built with all kinds of restrictions during the pandemic. However, despite all the difficulties, the children can now rejoice and enjoy the new facilities.
There are plans to build another floor in the future, as the number of pupils is constantly growing, but for now the new classrooms have to be equipped with desks and blackboards.
The difficult economic situation in the country and the extremely low teacher salaries force many colleagues to take on a second job. This makes it even more important to get funds from and donations. In addition to all the terrible events happening in Ukraine right now, the Waldorf community in Moldova has mobilised and offered support to all who asked for help. When the first refugees arrived, the community offered children, teachers, Waldorf parents from Ukraine and anyone else who found themselves in trouble them shelter and food. Even in these desperate times, the commitment to developing a healthy student-teacher relationship and methodology is an unprecedented example that shows the dedication and qualities of the teachers.
