Heidi Torggler, member of the Beyond Horizon association, on the demolition of the yurts in Lajen and how the children are now being cared for.
Daily newspaper: Ms. Torggler, the yurts have now been removed. Why?
Heidi Torggler: The yurts have been temporarily removed for various reasons. However, we are still in the middle of a legal discussion with the municipality on this topic and cannot comment on it at the moment.
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How many children were cared for there?
About 15 children of all ages were cared for there.
Where are the children cared for now?
As befits parents who have taken their children out of school, they naturally looked for a good alternative. As the Beyond Horizon association, we supported them in this. Anything else would have to be asked of the parents themselves. We have learned to pay even more attention to the privacy of our members after an unjustified media hounding of us recently.
Have some parents brought their children back to schools and kindergartens after this pressure?
One is back to school and one came along. The pressure exerted on parents by the public authorities, the media, the regional school council and the school authority has, if anything, reduced trust in them. Can you really blame them for that? Why don’t the community and the country try to win back the lost trust of the parents? Instead, they are put under pressure and almost criminalized. For a constitutional right in a country where education is compulsory but not compulsory.
Is the Beyond Horizon association sticking to the alternative education and research project?
Give me one reason why we shouldn’t “stick” to it? The association pursues the goal of enabling the participating children to learn close to nature, which focuses on exploring nature and learning from nature. This goal is always worth sticking to and should also be increasingly pursued by other institutions, including public ones. We make every effort to achieve this and thus fulfill the right and duty of our children’s education. What could be “wrong” with that?
Can you understand the skepticism about your care offer?
Alternative modes of teaching and education have been around for years and have never been so challenged. The skepticism towards us only arose when the media and public representatives spread massive false information about the association and the project. The skepticism should not prevail with our project, but rather with the care and training offered by the local schools, where the responsible school district council not only disregards the constitution, but also exceeds the autonomy powers by trying to make it as difficult as possible for the children in private lessons close.
The care has caused negative headlines in national and international media. They spoke of an unjustified “witch hunt”. How are parents feeling today? Has the situation calmed down?
What should have changed in our opinion in the meantime? As already said: The negative headlines were fabricated and provoked by the media themselves! In the meantime, have you realized that this witch hunt was never justified? We and the parents are only concerned with the well-being of the children. That should finally be taken into account. And yes, the situation has calmed down to the extent that the media has been quiet for the last few months.
Among other things, the video by Benjamin Lechner from Ilumina Circle, which was filmed on site, caused a stir. At the time, the club felt abused. Has legal action been taken?
Unfortunately, the project and the association were repeatedly misused by different people etc. for their own purposes. We do not want to and cannot publicly announce here which legal steps we have taken or not.
What legal proceedings are still ongoing?
It is not possible to comment on the ongoing legal actions, as this could harm them.
Interview: Erna Egger
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Photo(s): © 123RF.com and/or/with © Archive Die Neue Südtiroler Tageszeitung GmbH (if no reference is available)
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