In Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland there are first projects for free farm, forest and nature schools. “Education needs new impetus, education needs to be rethought,” said Katrin Adam, founding member and board member of the supporting association of the Freie Landwirtschaft-Waldschule Südpfalz, which started operations last September. “At the moment we are experiencing that many similar initiatives are springing up, not just here, but across Germany. That’s great.”
In Saarland, five women are planning a free school in which ecological and natural learning are central educational elements and in which children learn without a fixed class group and obligatory homework. “We want to be the first farm and nature school in the Saarland,” they announced. According to their own statements, they are currently working on the financing, the pedagogical concept and the approval for the school in the Saarbrücken regional association. They would like to start in the 2024/25 school year with initially 25 children. Parents should pay tuition fees of 200 euros per month.
According to the Ministry of Education, an application for this must be submitted to the school supervisory authority at least six months before the start of the school year. There are Montessori elementary schools and Waldorf schools in Saarland, but no independent elementary school.
Free School Saar e.V. Free Farm Forest School South Palatinate Federal Association of Free Alternative Schools
