Q:
A:
Improving Serbian language teaching in Diaspora
Belgrade,
11 April 2008
Serbian Minister of Diaspora Milica Cubrilo said today that one of the priorities of the ministry is to improve Serbian language teaching abroad.
Milica Cubrilo
Author:
Tanjug
Speaking at a press conference, Cubrilo said that increasing the number of children who learn the Serbian language is one of the most important issues regarding the preservation of Serbian culture and identity.
She spoke about several unresolved problems in the area of Serbian language teaching, such as the constantly decreasing number of students abroad. The number of children and young people who are part of any Serbian language teaching programme is somewhere in between 16,500 and 17,000.
One of the problems, she stressed, is the insufficient number of teachers being financed by the Ministry of Education. In Germany, Switzerland, France, Greece, Belgium, Denmark and Hungary Serbian language and subjects related to culture are being taught by 34 regular, 14 honorary and three guest teachers.
According to Cubrilo, one teacher works with nearly 100 students organised in ten groups according to age and place of residence, which most often means that classes are held in a different city every day.
Cubrilo said that the ministry will make efforts to increase the number of teachers working abroad to 1,000, which is what the new Serbian government should try to achieve.
Another problem is the absence of a special programme for elementary education abroad. The National Council of Education adopted such programme in 2005, but it still has not come into effect, she said.
The Minister for Diaspora said that some of the unsolved problems are the lack of adjusted textbooks and other didactic materials for teaching Serbian as a second language, as well as the lack of classrooms.
The Ministry for Diaspora also supported the programme for advanced training of Serbian language teachers in the Diaspora.
One of the first planned segments of this programme will be a seminar for teachers from the Diaspora which will be held in July in Bajina Basta, where teachers will attend training workshops from methodology of teaching Serbian as foreign language, cultural history of Serbs, and a special segment will deal with the interconnection of development and teaching principles.
In order to support continued advanced training of teaching staff in the Diaspora, the Ministry plans to establish a special distance teaching programme for teachers.
She spoke about several unresolved problems in the area of Serbian language teaching, such as the constantly decreasing number of students abroad. The number of children and young people who are part of any Serbian language teaching programme is somewhere in between 16,500 and 17,000.
One of the problems, she stressed, is the insufficient number of teachers being financed by the Ministry of Education. In Germany, Switzerland, France, Greece, Belgium, Denmark and Hungary Serbian language and subjects related to culture are being taught by 34 regular, 14 honorary and three guest teachers.
According to Cubrilo, one teacher works with nearly 100 students organised in ten groups according to age and place of residence, which most often means that classes are held in a different city every day.
Cubrilo said that the ministry will make efforts to increase the number of teachers working abroad to 1,000, which is what the new Serbian government should try to achieve.
Another problem is the absence of a special programme for elementary education abroad. The National Council of Education adopted such programme in 2005, but it still has not come into effect, she said.
The Minister for Diaspora said that some of the unsolved problems are the lack of adjusted textbooks and other didactic materials for teaching Serbian as a second language, as well as the lack of classrooms.
The Ministry for Diaspora also supported the programme for advanced training of Serbian language teachers in the Diaspora.
One of the first planned segments of this programme will be a seminar for teachers from the Diaspora which will be held in July in Bajina Basta, where teachers will attend training workshops from methodology of teaching Serbian as foreign language, cultural history of Serbs, and a special segment will deal with the interconnection of development and teaching principles.
In order to support continued advanced training of teaching staff in the Diaspora, the Ministry plans to establish a special distance teaching programme for teachers.
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