As a teacher, and I consider myself a really dedicated teacher, I am always curious about what education is like in other places. Here in Sacueni, I have put aside my facet as a teacher to dedícate myself to communication. But as a journalist, I did not want to miss the opportunity to write about education in Sacueni.

To do this, I have been very lucky to have had a meeting with Blanka, a mother of two girls and an English teacher at Petofi Sandor School. Blanka is also a Romanian teacher and works as a volunteer at the Jesus Child’s Home, helping the kids to do their homework and with Romanian. Blanka has been a teacher for 12 years, and we can say that for her, to be a teacher is a true vocation.

I have always thought that anyone who decides to be a teacher is because at some point in their life there has been a teacher who has served as inspiration. Blanka is not an exception: “When I was a little girl I wanted to be a lot of things, one of these things was a teacher. Then I had two teachers, an English teacher in 5th grade and a Romanian teacher in 9th grade, they served me as inspiration, it´s because of them that I decided I wanted to be a teacher”. Blanka affirms that she also wants to be an inspiration for her students.

As a foreigner, I am fascinated by the cultural richness that exists in Sacueni, that mix between Hungarian, Roma and Romanian. I was wondring if the different groups are separared into different clases at school. So, here in Sacueni, Romanian children are in different clases because all their subjects are in romanian language. Regarding the separation between Hungarian and Roma kids, there are some mixed clases and other segregated, this is not done intentionally, however it is the reality, because from year to year there are more and more Roma kids, so there are not enough Hungarian children to have more mixed classes. For Blanka all her students are equal, there is not difference between them, “I would like to be like their mother”, se says with a smile in her face.

Regarding the issue of Bullying, I asked Blanka if she had to face any case of bullying. Fortunately her answer was negative. If the children ever misbehave she tries to make them understand what they have done is wrong. “I want to teach them to be respectful, with the teachers and with the other kids”, for Blanka this is the most important thing.

Another big problem is the Covid situation, that has completely disrupted our way of life, and of couse, education as well. Blanka tells us that it is very difficult for everyone: “Parents have to work and cannot be 100% to help children  with online classes, children are not prepare for online teaching and teachers have to be more creative tan ever to be able to work this way”. In addition, there are a lot of families who don’t have a financial background to have IT gadgets like Smartphone, laptop or computer, and the children from there cannot take part of online education, which is a major problem here and throughout the country too.

To finish with this article, and forgetting the Covid situation, I think education in Sacueni is pretty satisfactory, the children learn a lot of things and they are prepared when they finish in High School, most of them go to university, and those who don’t, start working. It is very nice that the teachers are so involved and care so much about their students. One of the most beautiful things about my interview with Blanka, and with which I absolutely agree, is the fact that Blanka learns everyday from her students and sees the talent in every child. I am very happy that the children of Sacueni have such good teachers who bring out the best in them. Blanka says that she wants to be inspiration for her students, I’m pretty sures she already is.