Grădinile şcolare ale aşezămintelor primare rurale. Studiu de caz: Inspectoratul şcolar regional Iaşi (1900-1940)
The school gardens of rural primary school establishments. Case study: The Iaşi Regional School County Inspectorate (1900-1940)

Summary/Abstract: This text is part of a series of studies focusing on the extracurricular activities of primary school establishments in modern Romania. Spiru Haret is the one who closely associated students’ activities outside of school hours with absenteeism rates. Romanian rural communities did not fully embrace school despite being mandatory and free. Nearly half a century after Al. I. Cuza’s primary education law, absenteeism exceeded 50% of the total number of school-aged children. How much of the absenteeism was due to students’ families, the school, the teachers’ training, or the lack of teaching materials remains an open matter. The image of a rural student owning a school textbook remained unfamiliar in the countryside.Aware of the rural population’s resistance to schooling, Spiru Haret sought to shift the perception of rural families regarding primary education, which was often seen as a private endeavour, particularly regarding the teaching job as a qualified profession. Extracurricular education, especially practical hours in school gardens and experimental fields, aimed to reduce the potential for such opposition. Lacking primary instructional materials for formalised education, rural students could take care – through extracurricular education – of their own fruit trees or vegetable garden seeds, all provided by the school. At the same time, the rudiments of a small household industry were intended to compensate for the school absences within primary education. Inspection reports from school supervisors and inspectors in Iaşi County painted a specific picture of how the primary school participated in transforming rural realities.

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