Minister of Education Zarko Obradovic and Director of the British Council in Belgrade Andrew Glass today signed an Agreement on Co-operation which will improve the teaching of English in Serbian schools, the professional development of teachers and cooperation amongst schools at international level.

According to this Agreement, all those who have the appropriate level of education, as decided by the Ministry of Education, and are holders of CAE (Certificate of Advanced English), CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English) or IELTS (International English Language Testing System) mark 6.5 or higher, can teach English in the lower grades of primary school. Moreover, those who pass TKT (Teachers Knowledge Test) exam will be awarded with 25 hours of professional development recognition.

Mr Obradovic told a press conference following the signing that English tops the list of languages taught in Serbia and students learn it from the first grade.

He said the Agreement will define a framework of joint activities between the Ministry and the British Council, specifying that English is taught in 84% of elementary schools, 32% of secondary schools and 99% of grammar schools in Serbia.

He added that English language instructors are working at the universities of Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis and Kragujevac, while Serbian instructors are engaged in London and Nottingham.

The Director of the British Council said that this institution has been supporting secondary education through various projects. Mr Glass also expressed his hope that this will increase employment in Serbia.

All said examinations, CAE, CPE, IELTS and TKT can be registered in British Council.