On September 1, 1990 (throughout the Soviet Union was September 1 the first day of the school year) children in five different places in Estonia could start in a Waldorf school. Soon also Waldorf kindergartens were attached to the schools. Today all of the five waldorf schools have a kindergarten. Additional two play groups and kindergarten in the curative school were established.
In 1996 the Waldorf schools and kindergartens were excluded from local support. On one hand you had more freedom in the educational work; on the other hand the new situation brought large financial difficulties.
But there was a lot of enthusiasm for the Waldorf pedagogy and good will. What was missing was an adequate training of teachers in Waldorf education. There was an annual meeting with a lecturer from the West, visits to kindergartens in western countries and also some courses for educators at the Waldorf teacher training in Tartu. But that was not a sufficient education. Another problem was, that the courses could not provide a recognized qualification. Now after 20 years of effort, it has become possible for us to carry out a course for Waldorf teachers at the University of Tartu, which gives teachers a nationally recognized qualification.
We were able to develop the curriculum in complete freedom. It has been compiled with the help of experienced people from the West, which are also indispensable as lecturers for this course. But several issues could also be taken over by Estonian educators. With about 50 participants, it is the largest training course at the university.
The fact that this course was possible is a result of the increasing public recognition of Waldorf education and that the Ministry of Education approved the curriculum of the course.
We very much hope that courses can continue to take place in this framework in the future. Estonia is a small country and has a little population (1.38 million), so that one will hardly be able to realize an independent seminar for educators.


Tiiu Bläsi–Käo  tiiu.blaesi@gmx.de
Heli Kudu  heli.kudu@mail.ee