At the invitation of the Dean of the BelgradeTeacherTrainingCollege, Aleksandar Jovanovic, the Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republicof Serbia, Predrag Markovic, today addressed the new class of the College’s students. Speaking to 140 first-year students gathered in the College’s Ceremonial Hall, Mr Markovic said that it gave him great pleasure to be able to address a class that would be the first to study under the new Higher Education Act, and that would be the first to feel the benefits of the new University Act. He added that what was important was not only what the students would learn at university, but also how prepared they were to teach their students, and their students’ parents, in the future, and to change along with them, stressing that the generations of teachers that did so over the past two centuries will be remembered as the standard-bearers for the transformation of the face of Serbia. Mr Markovic told students that he was hoping they would remember this day not only because it was their first day at university, but also because Serbiawas given the green light to start talks on accession to the European Union, in which they too would live.

The new students of the TeacherTrainingCollegewere also addressed by the Dean of the College, Aleksandar Jovanovic, as well as by older students of the College, who prepared a short play for the occasion.