Topic: Kramar's School of English in Zlate Moravce, Slovakia

[teflteacherabroad]

There is a school in Zlate Moravce I'd like to warn people off.  I can't name it, because its name is also the name of the school director; but it's the only one in the town currently advertising on the internet.

The last three teachers, possibly four, who have taught at this school have deeply regretted coming here.  The director:

1/ allows his 12 year old son to teach classes to teenagers.
2/ forces teachers to march through the Cambridge textbooks exercise by exercise.
3/ calls you up at the beginning of the class (there are telephones installed in each classroom), telling you which exercises to do.
4/ shuffles classes around without giving any warning or notice, and thinks it unreasonable for you to object.
5/ will hold teachers meetings every Friday in the pub, proceed to get drunk and talk about the size of his wife's breasts.
6/ makes disparaging comments about women (such as: "I'll never employ another woman here, they are terrible!")
7/ will do anything he can to avoid having to sign a contract

The atmosphere in the town here is good, but due to the fact that the accommodation is in the director's mother-in-law's house, which is five minutes away from the school, there is absolutely no work/home divide.  (I myself was told I would be living in a flat - actually it is the end of his mother-in-law's living room, partitioned off by glass windows.)  If you don't answer your mobile, the director rings the house landline and the in-laws fetch you out.  There is no privacy.  The accumulative effect of this treatment is demoralising to say the least.  I would have left long ago, had I anywhere else to easily go, but I just decided to see it through.  And it's been pretty grim.  I can provide the email addresses of two other teachers, both American, who will back me up on this and provide horror stories of their own.

Seriously, this place: 

[Uncle Che]

Feel free to post the name of the school. If a school owner/director names his school after himself/herself then the name in fair game.

[unhappy customer]

I must report that the original message here is absolutely true.    In addition to everything that has already been said, you can add that the employer is rather lax about paying his female employees in a timely manner and tries to coerce additional "obligations" out of them in the form of extra work and reimbursements for things he has volunteered to take care of.  He is a consumate liar about just about anything you care to name, whether there is any reason to do so or not.   He phones all hours of the day and night and generally treats his employees as indentured servants.

The town itself is lovely and almost everyone else I met there was very nice.  However, it's simply not worth the constant harassment from the employer.  Unless you are seriously into suffering, avoid this place like the plague.

I'm happy to give more details to anyone who is interested.

[tatranka]

I'm one of the ex Slovak teachers there and I must agree with all this information. I didn't like that he didn't appreciate what the teachers did for him. I think we did quite a good job, but we were always 'taught' how to teach, even if he is not a qualified teacher. And those constant controls of what and how we do. Horrible. I just feel sorry for the native speakers. Thanks to the director of this school, the foreigners may have a feeling that all SLovak people are like that. But they are not. Believe me. So don't be afraid to teach at other Slovak schools. And do not hesitate to ask other teachers at the school for help. I think, we always tried to help and support all native speakers that came to ZM.

[bububu]

Horrible...

[northboy]

Alright, I'm the other teacher.

We teach at Kramar's School of English in Zlate Moravce, Slovakia. I have absolutely no compunction in naming this school. Though I have fond feelings for many of my students and do not wish to harm their chances of having contact with native speakers, I agree with my colleague. It is our responsibility to warn other teachers off this place. I will try to stay as objective as possible, given my aversion to this guy.
Concrete:

I. Due to an unfortunate accident, I needed medical attention. The town hospital was a disaster and I had to pay for emergeny attention out of my own pocket. Though we had been guarenteed "full and complete medical coverage" (imagine Boris Karloff or Bela Lugiosi coming out of a crypt and reading you your TEFL rights...) I was not covered after 2 months here. I was told that it was down to the "damn stupid Slovak system" but I suspected otherwise. Regretfully, I needed medical attention. I won't go into the details, but needless to say I suffered a degree of unnecessary pain and aggravation for a full 6 months. Mr. Kramar treated this as unfortunate but par for the course. The truth is that he was fall down drunk the night I ended up in the emergency room and so I was unable (unfortunately, according to him) to illegally use HIS insurance card to have "proper" medical treatment. I call foul. This was a complete debacle and in the end I was forced to pay for an operation that I'm convinced I wouldn't have needed if I had proper medical attention in the first place. 6 months of worry. Furthermore, Kramar repeatedly tried to guilt me into thanking him for the help that he was so clearly responsible for giving me. Bulls&%t.


II. I cannot stress to the TEFL community how bad a sign it is to walk into your classroom for the first time and see a phone installed directly next to the desk. Did you ever attend a school that allowed the principle/headmaster constant and direct access to the teacher??? ---not to mention a waste of time but the unprofessionalism of it all??!??! A further ignominious sign is a computer system based on a primitive Unix database that the Director insists on you learning and following to the letter. I'm reading my Eight Ball and all signs point to "NO!"

III. I went on record early and vocally to state that having a 12 yr old who generously resembles Caligula teach ANYONE is not only consummately unprofessional but INSANE. This did not even register (though it was brought up repeatedly and in far kinder terms) and I was basically told to shut it. This was due to some mysterious "experience" that I apparently didn't possess. To go on record for a second time: I for one don't want to gain the experience that would make me think that a 12 yr old is a competent teacher.

IV. Getting drunk in front of your teacher, parents of students, and the entire community, repeatedly, is BAD. Sort your life out. And it doesn't help if your refer to the hirsute areas of your wife or the size of her mammory glands.


In closing, I'm not going to tell you about how lovely this town is. I'm not going to tell you that the Slovak people or wonderful. Kramar's School of English is NOT  a good place to work. Bottom line.

[Uncle Che]

This post was moved to another room temporarily to avoid fallout on teachers still in the blast area.

[aliah]

Salute to all teachers. 

[hamishk]

I have just finished a 4-month conversational english teaching stint at Kramar's School of English in Zlate Moravce and can honestly say that the whole experience was great. Not only did Boris help me get my work visa (he travelled with me several times to Nitra), he was also a good boss. His wife and 3 boys were nothing but helpful and kind.
I would also like to point out that Boris's mother-in-law is not a "senile and alcoholic old lady" as mentioned on another page. She is a caring, kind lady who couldn't do enough for me.
Yes, there is a telephone beside the desk in every class room, and yes, he did ring me several times per day. This was usually before, but sometimes during, class - but it wasn't a problem. Any criticism he had of my teaching (there was very little) was always conveyed constructively and courteously. From time to time, he did change the roster at the last minute - but again, it wasn't a problem for me.
He always paid my wages on time. I never saw him drunk and he certainly never made rude or inappropriate comments about women.
Looking at the previous comments made about Boris, I can't help but think that perhaps his poor grasp of conversational english at the time may have resulted in some misunderstandings. Whatever the reason, I just feel compelled to stand up for the guy as my experience with him was nothing but positive. I would also like to point out that my replacement (an American) actually taught at Kramar's School of English 3 years ago. Surely it can't be that bad a place if he's happy to teach there again.