Tvind

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tvind is the name of an alternative school system in Denmark , also called Tvind Skolerne there.

history

Beginning in the 1970s

The Tvind School was founded by a group of young people in 1973 . Several young teachers went on excursions to India , Afghanistan and other countries in minibuses . Under the premise of “traveling and learning” , they founded the school project, which was called the “Necessary Seminar” and set the goal of training to become a teacher . The focus was on Mogens Amdi Petersen , who played a key role in this project. In northern Jutland near Ringkøbing , an old farm (Tvind Gaarden), which the name Tvind refers to, was bought and converted into a school.

Tvind Mill

During the oil crisis and the energy discussions in the 1970s, the then participants in the teachers' seminar started the Tvind mill project . The aim was to prove that wind energy was an alternative to nuclear energy . People were advertised to build the largest wind power plant in the world. Electricity production began on March 26, 1978. The system, built with a used gearbox, generator and main bearing, was the largest wind turbine in the world for several years. At the same time, the school project grew steadily. A private school (Friskole) and a secondary school (Efterskole) were founded. A secondary school / grammar school and a technical production school (equivalent to a vocational school for technical professions) were added later.

Tvind was very popular at the time, though not in Denmark itself, where alternative schools were quite numerous due to liberal school laws. At the beginning the " hippies " in the rural environment were ridiculed as "left-wing nuts " or "hashish-smoking do-gooders" . Later, the prejudices grew and resulted in fights between Tvind students and residents. Nevertheless, Tvind attracted many young people from Scandinavia, England and also Germany. The principle of “traveling and learning” was a particular attraction . The fairy tale Pelle the Conqueror , which is very well known in Denmark, was the inspiration in which part of the core message describes the necessity of traveling and learning in unity. Every school had old omnibuses , which were expanded with sleeping facilities and which served as mobile classrooms for study trips . The destinations were both North Africa and Asia. In the 1980s, Tvind expanded and several new schools were established elsewhere in Denmark, and later in other countries, including the USA . Because of Denmark's liberal legislation towards alternative schools, Tvind was able to expand financially quickly with government support (up to 85%). Within the teaching group , the principle was that salaries went into a community fund and that each individual received pocket money .

Criticism in the late 1980s

At the end of the 1980s, criticism of Tvind's financial conduct was expressed in Denmark, which built up further financial strength with real estate and other businesses. In the eyes of the Danish population, Tvind's practices were considered disreputable and Danish tax policy was increasingly skeptical of the project. The fact that a group of Tvind students had to hitchhike home on their own from a trip in Ireland also sparked outrage. The sinking of one of Tvind's school ships, which also lost lives, aroused skepticism about the safety and logistics of Tvind's operations. The teachers cut themselves off from the news media.

Tvind founded the international aid organization UFF (Ulandshjælp fra Folk til Folk). This organization, which also appears in other countries as Humana , soon made negative headlines with clothing collections and projects in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. A large part of the money was used for the interests of the Tvind system, which has now grown into an "empire". The intersocial structures within the teaching group were also critically questioned by reports from members who had left the group, which enabled insights into the otherwise closed community of teachers. There was talk of brainwashing , manipulation and collective psychological pressure, and a comparison was made with Scientology .

Special Law and Prosecution

In 1996 the state subsidy was withdrawn from all Tvind schools by special law. Nevertheless, almost all schools continued to work - albeit with fewer pupils and very poor financial conditions. In the meantime, the focus was on looking after adolescents who were difficult to apply and whose stay was paid for directly by the youth welfare offices. Only one school broke away from Tvind and became a recognized and sponsored private school (Efterskole / Højskole). The ideological leader Amdi Petersen was charged with tax evasion , which is why the Danish state cut all funding for the Tvind schools and thus put the Tvind system in a precarious position. The financial and image damage meant that the schools had largely sealed themselves off from the public.

On August 31, 2006, the tax evasion lawsuit of Amdi Petersen and seven other defendants ended with an acquittal for seven of the eight defendants. Steen Byrner, who admitted partial guilt during the trial, was sentenced to a suspended sentence of one year and a fine of 80,000  kroner . The trial against Amdi Petersen continued in the summer in Amdi Petersen's absence. Amdi Petersen has since left Denmark and is wanted by the police all over the world. In January 2009, Tvind spokesman Poul Jørgensen was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to two and a half years in prison. He is responsible for diverting money to private companies and not having declared this for tax purposes.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Die Windkraft-Punks, Neue Energie 02/2012, page 40 ff.
  2. ↑ The Tvind Humana Empire beheaded. April 5, 2002, accessed March 6, 2011 .
  3. ↑ Amdi forsvundet on 4. år. Berligske, June 7, 2010, accessed March 6, 2011 (Danish).
  4. ↑ fact: Tvindsagen fra 2000 til 2009. January 20, 2009, accessed on March 6, 2011 (Danish).