Mrs Dobrila Kostić

Mrs Dobrila Kostić graduated from the five-year Teacher Training School "Želimir Đurić" in Užice in 1970 and has been teaching the Serbian language to children and adults in the United Kingdom for 45 years, making her likely the most experienced Serbian language teacher in the UK. She began gaining her vast teaching experience in the 1970s in Australia, where her husband, Father Milun Kostić, had come as a young priest. There, Protinica taught Serbian to students at the University of Melbourne and to Australian diplomats at Monash University. She founded a church Sunday school for the Serbian language with over 180 students. When the Kostić family moved to London in 1977, Dobrila joined the St. Sava Church Sunday School, which was founded in 1962. In addition to teaching at the school, Dobrila was preparing children for the O- and A-level exams in Serbian. She also taught British diplomats who were posted to Yugoslavia and Serbia. Protinica Kostić has taught Serbian to our children not only in London but also in Oxford, Reading and Leicester. She also teaches Serbian to children aged 12 to 17 at a school run by the Round Table of Serbian Organisations in the UK in collaboration with the Azbukum Center in Serbia. At the St. Sava Church Sunday School in London, Dobrila conducts Serbian language classes for first- and second-grade children in classrooms. Starting from the 2024/2025 school year, her work at the school is funded by the Ministry of Education and follows the supplementary education program of the Republic of Serbia.