[EDLING:369] Setting language school standards

[Francis M Hult]

The Prague Post

http://www.praguepost.com/P03/2004/spsect/1021/print_template.php

Setting language school standards

Association fills gap with quality requirements

By Will Tizard
For The Prague Post
(October 21, 2004)


If there's anything to which the favorite Czech aphorism about toadstools
applies, it's Prague language schools. And while these unregulated
institutions don't quite pop up like mushrooms after the rain, they're
nearly as prolific.

Some 200 language schools are in business in Prague alone, according to
educators in the business, and the state still has no regulatory or
licensing board to ensure they all operate according to professional
standards. In fact, you don't need anything more than a standard business
license to open one.

Enter the Czech Association of Language Schools (Asociace jazykovych skol
CR, or AJS).

Founded a year ago by a small group of quality schools that felt consumers
deserved better, the association set quality standards for membership in
all the major criteria: a properly organized curriculum with distinct
levels of instruction; teachers with full qualifications; proper
facilities for courses and course preparation including libraries,
classrooms and modern texts; and clear information for students on course
offerings and limitations.

In short, the schools created a nongovernmental regulatory board to
guarantee the quality that the state wouldn't.

David Dvorsky, founder of the 12-year-old Glossa language school off
Wenceslas Square, said that the 14 member schools are very selective about
who else may join -- a requirement for membership to be a meaningful
hallmark of quality. The association's accreditation with EAQUALS, the
European Association of Quality Language Schools, is another such
hallmark, Dvorsky added.

English student Martin Pavlik said the difference in professionalism is
notable.

"The quality of the teachers at [my last school] was terrible," he said.
"There's a big difference. I think the teachers are better paid [at
Glossa], and they are able to really teach. The teachers I had before,
they wouldn't be able to explain grammar, and we weren't able to discuss
with them about grammar problems."

Pavlik, who has studied English for nine years, got funding from his
company, a major software firm, for a different language school. But he
was so disappointed, he opted to pay his own way to Glossa.

Its rates are far from the cheapest around, he admitted, but added that
investing in a professional organization is worth every crown.

"I need English at my work, and every day. I totally feel better when I am
able to speak [proper] English."


Strength in unity

It's no small task to establish a serious language school in Prague, where
competition is fierce and cutting corners is a grand tradition. A staff of
native language speakers, for example, while a great goal, is so difficult
to maintain that the association opted to leave this requirement off their
list of musts for member schools.

"A lot of native speakers don't stay here permanently," Dvorsky said.
Besides, "It's a very quick business -- sometimes you need a lot of
teachers for one big client."

Dvorsky is critical of the state's lack of involvement in supporting what
he considers an important economic resource: commercial language schools.
"Unfortunately, the Ministry of Education seems to ignore the private
language schools. The only thing we get from them is 19 percent VAT."

For now, the state regulates only post-secondary language education at
colleges and universities.

Jitka Blazkova, director and owner of Threshold Training Associates, a
nine-year-old language school with 90 teachers instructing 4,600 hours per
month, welcomed the formation of the AJS. Though she admits to some
skepticism about the association at the beginning, her school is now its
newest member.

"For a few years we felt it was necessary for somebody to be setting the
standard for training in the language schools," she said. "There are very
many schools that are undercutting prices." Typically, schools cut costs
by employing substandard teachers and neglecting training.

The organization offers other advantages. These days, clients, especially
businesses, demand more and more feedback, such as detailed attendance
sheets in Microsoft Excel format, while at the same time demanding
discounts. With that kind of pressure, it pays to unify.

Also, AJS not only sets standards for schools but organizes them into
advocacy efforts, such as a recent push to roll back the state-imposed VAT
tax on language schools. Though not successful, it was a welcome
precedent, according to Blazkova.

Before the AJS, she said, "We felt like lonely troopers most of the time
-- there was no cooperation between language schools. Even though we're
competitors, we still have some common ground. And I think we're doing a
wonderful job of informing the public."


Will Tizard can be reached at specialsection at praguepost.com