Job Discussion Forums

[JRCash]

Akademia Vzdelavania (Academy of Education) in Slovakia? Anyone know anything about them - their reputation, what it is like to work for them etc?

[soapdodger]

Akademia Vzdelavania are a throwback from the communist regime. They're a chain of pretty second rate further education establishments, and be assured that if something is second rate here then it's really scruffy. I started in Slovakia with them nearly 15 years ago in Kosice, second biggest city, and they were abysmal. I had the dubious and unintended pleasure of closing down their EFL operation in Kosice for about 2 years by opening my own school, which their students totally voluntarily flocked to. I love Slovakia, but I wouldn't really recommend it as a destination if you're after money or good schools. Cowboy outfits abound and wherever you go, the best you'll get for 45 minutes is about 300 Slovak korun after tax...you wont be able to get much more than that for private lessons either. As a benchmark 50 SK for a UK pound. On the bright side, alot of Slovaks are really nice people and it's a beautiful place, you can live relatively cheaply but don't expect to save very much. The downside is that the bureaucracy is absolute hell.....Slovakia is covered in forests just to provide paper for the system. Dont do Akademia Vzdelavania. If you're interested I can send you the details of a school where I do a little work. They're pretty disorganised but that's par for the course, but they pay on time and fair rates. Good luck!

[naturegirl321]

Thanks for the info.

[guty]

[xAfrox]

I don't know much about teaching in the east, but in Bratislava there are several schools which only screw you the normal amount. There's the Canadian Bilingual Institute, which I think I heard used to be the Slovak Caledonian, Alex Jazykovy Centrum, and some place called the English Box - which sounds promising. These are all places that you can see from the tram but which I am too lazy to actually go and check out. Presumably they have websites you can look at.

There are a lot more; I'm sure most are guaranteed to be random and freaky.

You can also check out some universities, though the pay there would probably be even lower - but basically you're going to live in a hovel regardless. But you'll have fun! Slovakia rocks. Not as prissy as Prague and way cleaner than Russia. If you're bored or curious, check out my "online journal":

http://fencehopping.blogspot.com/

[booty]

[dfe1]

update to the above (December 2012) i just finished working for AV in Zilina, after 4 months of hassle, late pay, pay in instalments instead of the full monthly amount in one go, lower pay then agreed, red tape like you would not believe, delays, broken promises and some hideously bad treatment of a fellow teacher who was ill. AV are (depending on who you talk to) scaling back their national operations (they have 26 branches or so) or they are actually going bankrupt. They certainly have a massive cashflow problem. The Zilina AV branch is splitting up imminently and a new company being formed, so look closely at ANY adverts from Zilina. The clients and students were great, and the country is quite lovely, but having zero money and zero progress with promises that it would all be sorted out is a big negative, thus i left, after being asked not to tel the students, as some new contracts were not yet signed... and as 100% of the native teachers were all leaving in December, that made things a touch tricky for the management, who need to recruit staff to deliver the programmes, rapidly.....

[MdSmith]

FWIW I was with AV in Trnava in 2005. Everything was fine, got my own flat that was okay (on the inside), got paid on time etc., wasn't much in those days though, I guess it has increased since then. Had a good time all in all..