Member schools

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MAQS is the Macedonian* Association for Quality Language Services. It was initiated by a number of interested language schools and is supported by the British Council. The first meeting was held in February 2002 when the British Council expressed their readiness to support such a project and when a group of representatives of language schools in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia involved in the project of the Bulgarian association Optima for Quality Across the Borders of Eastern Europe shared their experience. *refers to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 1. MAQS Goals • Promotion of quality language teaching by setting and maintaining high professional standards compatible to the European ones; • Establishment of an accreditation system for language schools; • Establishing cooperation with the Ministry of Education and other institutions, associations and NGOs carrying out educational activities; • Representation of the interest of the language schools in the society • Establishment of a network among the language schools; • Associate membership with EAQUALS, the European association for quality language services. 2. Goal Achievement MAQS has established a Code of Practice that must be accepted and practiced by all members. The Code consists of three charters: Information Charter, Staff Charter and Students Charter. The charters advocate: • Professional and fair treatment for all students; • Professional and fair treatment for all staff; • Truthful and timely information. To become full members and to be able to apply the quality logo on their documents, schools must undergo the process of inspection. MAQS has created their own scheme for inspection. This scheme covers management, instruction and environment. With the financial support of the British Council, MAQS has organized inspector training and has created a pool of inspectors. 3. Benefits for the members • Accreditation which entails an objective and independent proof of quality, and subsequently the right to use the association logo on their documents as a seal of quality; • Higher status for the members in the ELT community; • First hand information about current trends in language teaching; • Seminars and workshops to improve and maintain quality in the language schools; • Standardization of the levels of language proficiency in accordance with the Common European Framework; • Consultancy services; • Network and exchange of experience. Acknowledgements MAQS would like to thank: The British Council for all their moral and financial support throughout the process of setting up the Association EAQUALS – the European Association for Quality Language services for their permission to use their documents as guidelines Optima – the Bulgarian Association for Quality Language Services for introducing us to the idea of setting up an accreditation scheme for language schools Additional thanks go to Frank Heyworth and Laura Muresan for their fruitful seminars and for training the first MAQS inspectors.

Languages taught

• English
• French
• German
• Greek
• Italian

Courses offered

• National association of language schools

Examinations offered

• All Cambridge ESOL exams
• TOEFL
• Michigan
• DAF