by Maja Gavrilović Maksimović

In Belgrade, at the Hotel Hyatt Regency, on 5 October 2013, YALS Chair Marija Pejatović, took part in a conference of private language schools organized by “The English Book“, named “Implementing and maintaining high teaching standards in private language schools in Serbia“. The director of The British Council, the CEO of IHLS Group, the representatives of the Faculty of Philology, Chamber of Commerce Serbia, Teachers’ Association ELTA and owners and directors of private language schools also took part in the plenary as well as in the discussion which followed.
All the speakers accentuated the importance of and the need for applied quality in the field of teaching languages. Being elusive as it is, quality is best achieved when constantly compared and adjusted to set standards. Then, it is important to maintain and improve it.
One of the recommendations from the conference, which also best concludes all being said, is that joining an association, regardless of whether it is a local or international one, as long as it maintains and promotes transparent quality standards, is beneficial for the particular school. It helps the school further transform its image of a locally recognisable “my school from the neighbourhood“ into “my high quality school from the neighbourhood“. Standards are there to be challenged and improved.