Summer 2022 in Barsana, Maramures

Fifteen Romanian children, aged 13-15, enjoyed the inaugural, week-long Wandering Scholars summer school in the remote village of Barsana in Maramures, Romania. This is the initiative of Michael Marcas, Head of Economics at Winchester. Students were taught advanced concepts from Political Philosophy, Economics and Behavioural Science; they held debates on topical Romanian social issues every day; they worked on creative projects to support their community and preserve their village's traditions; and they were given 1:1 meetings to discuss and raise their future ambitions. During their breaks, they sampled English loose-leaf tea such as 'Whisky' and 'Coconut Truffle'. The students received books that had been generously donated by the Winchester College community, and which were a significant improvement on those in their school library, which are left-over from the Communist era. The Wandering Scholars programme will draw lessons from this pilot and will run next year across different regions of Romania.