Outrageous situation at a high school in Covasna. Mihai Viteazul National College in Sfântu Gheorghe, the only high school in the city with Romanian language teaching, has been operating for four years in the middle of a huge construction site. It is about rehabilitation works blocked due to several lawsuits between the municipality and the builder. And while the court dates run one after the other, collateral victims of this deaf war remain the more than 1,000 students and teachers, forced to endure almost inhuman working conditions.
The high school boarding school is almost completed, but it cannot be used. Source: Luminița Costea
“We teach in the cold, in the dirt, in classrooms infested with cockroaches, I moved the office to the hallways, my office is in the basement, and many teachers “commute” between the college and the other educational units where they have been relocated among the students. And our children don’t deserve such inhumane conditions either.” Prof. Luminița Costea, director of the educational unit, declared for “Adevărul”.
The story of the never-ending construction site begins in 2020 when the city hall contracted a company from Cluj to rehabilitate the boarding school building and the festival hall. “This company won the tender for the realization of the rehabilitation project but also for the performance of the works. But, along the way, we noticed many irregularities, including the failure to comply with the project, the pinnacle, also designed by them. It’s a non-serious company that didn’t do its job. So last year we decided to terminate the contract. We didn’t want that, but it was clear that it couldn’t be otherwise. However, the builder refused on the grounds that I did not pay him for the work already done. Well, there’s no way I’m going to pay for something that’s not well done,” the mayor of Sfântul Gheorge, Antal Árpád, explained to Adevărul. “And since then we have been judging ourselves with him. We would like to take over the works from the stage they are in now and complete them. However, the builder does not release the construction site. We tried to solve the situation administratively, but we met a big refusal. So I ended up in court.” the mayor also declared. “If they were honest people, things would have been resolved by now. We could start the renovations tomorrow if this builder agreed. But I did not find understanding. Unfortunately, we risk losing a lot of money if the investment is not completed, because the project is financed by European money”, the official told us.
“Students learn scattered throughout the city”
Two years after the start of the works, another building body entered the rehabilitation. “It’s another construction company that deals, but here the work is going smoothly. With these three construction sites, we have narrowed down our activity to a single building. You can see, we no longer have laboratories, offices, the chancellery is set up in the hallway, the secretariat, accounting, librarian, laboratories and offices of other employees have all been crammed into one room. You say that we are a multinational, with all the offices next to each other”, explains the director.
Mihai Viteazul National College is the only college with teaching in Romanian in the area and gathers Romanian children from all over the county. And those who want to stay at the boarding school are directed to other educational institutions. “We tried to manage and managed to provide students with accommodation through other parties. I spoke with the people from the Children’s Palace, with the people from the “Constantin Brâncusi” high school, but also with the management of the “Puskás Tivadar” Technological High School. Moreover, due to lack of space, we relocated several middle school classes, and from this year and students from primary classes. Our children study all over the city.” continued the teacher
Luminita Costea also told us that until the construction site started, there were approximately 1,150 students in the school. “Now the number of children has decreased. They no longer come to us as they once did, primarily because we no longer offer accommodation. And many don’t want to go to other boarding schools, where we would redirect them”.
“Teachers are running all over town so they won’t be late for class”
In this school year, five classes are outsourced at “Berde Áron” Economic High School, four classes at “Mikes Kelemen” Theoretical High School and six classes at “Babeş-Bolyai” University. “Until last year, we also had a class at “Puskas Tivadar” high school, but also one relocated just below church. Yes, you heard that right. Our children learned in the basement of a church, where a museum was opened”.
Obviously, with students relocated throughout the city, the teachers who teach the respective classes must also get from one location to another. And as fast as possible, until the doorbell rings.
“We have English, religion and sports teachers who teach a few classes at the college, in the only building we have left, and then have other classes in the University building, for example. These people are always on the road, running around the city not to be late for class. They, in 10 minutes, during the break, have to get from one side to the other. I no longer say that to get to the University you have to climb a hill, a kilometer or so away. And these people go up and down twice a day. It’s a constant coming and going with us. And many of them are elderly teachers. You can’t run them like this. It is inhumane. What do we do? Do we send them next year to the marathon? By the way, I don’t miss training. Not to mention that some leave the University and have to go to the Economic High School, where other relocated students await them. This building, however, is further away. People walk about three kilometers to get there. Some take it on foot, others use their personal car. But I lose time in traffic.”
The director Luminița Costea is outraged because, she told us, we want an education like outside, we expect our children to have outstanding results, we have expectations from the teachers, but we fail to offer them the minimum necessary for to achieve these goals. “We tried to adjust the schedule in such a way that the teacher would be concerned with the lessons he has to teach in class, not thinking about which shortcut or side street to take to get to class on time. But we didn’t succeed as we wanted”.
It is cold in the classrooms and the children are learning among the bugs
Luminița Costea has been the director of the “Mihai Viteazul” National College for 14 years. “This is where I learned, this is where I grew up, and here I am back here, at the head of this school, but I feel only sadness. I’m tired. Our children are scattered in all corners of the city, the teachers as well, and we, who have remained in the main building, are fighting the cold and bugs“, the director tells us bitterly. “Building B, where we are all huddled now, is a building that is more than 100 years old. Until a few days ago, we were all sitting in the cold, with our jackets on, both teachers and children. The power plant broke down again. And it’s not for the first time. We had one year where we had to go online because of the freezing weather outside and in the classrooms. We repaired it, it broke down again..and we keep it like this from repair to repair”.
Then the building is infested with cockroaches. “Once a month we do disinsection. It seems for nothing. The building is very old, it is a historical monument, a very beautiful building, but here, we also have many shortcomings because of it. All the jambs are made of wood, since the building was erected. I love this school so much and it breaks my heart. There is immense sadness in me. If things don’t work out, this school probably won’t exist anymore. In five years I will retire. And I would like to leave at peace that our dear school has brought its students back under the same roof”.
The boarding school building and the festival hall, where there are also classrooms, are almost 90% complete. “The roof was changed, the facade was painted, a lot of work was done on the interior. In vain, however. We are looking at the building, but we cannot use it, and this situation seems to have no solution!”the teacher also said.
