Language schools in dire straits

Seeing so many young people in our streets and on the beaches it is very easy to jump to the wrong conclusion that the 46 schools in Malta and Gozo teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) are running a very successful business.

Usually we have at least 57,000 coming to our islands every year to take a course in one of these 46 schools. This sector generates Lm39 million every year, employs over 1,100 teachers mostly part-time, provides income for over 1,700 host families and creates business for catering establishments, entertainment spots, shops and transport. This English language learning segment constitutes just fewer than five per cent of tourist arrivals and nine per cent of tourism expenditure.

But a closer look at what is happening in the sector shows schools are passing through hard times and the future looks very worrying unless the government changes its attitude and gets down to helping it move forward.

The Minister of Education appoints the EFL monitoring board every two years. The term of the previous board came to the end on March 22, 2005. The minister did not appoint a new one until a few weeks ago. In July, (in the middle of the peak of the summer season), the schools were informed that the new board had been constituted.

This was done in violation of the law since the minister reappointed the representative of the licensed schools while the law stipulates that this representative is to be elected by a secret vote from among all the member schools. The schools drew the attention of the ministry and the ministry called the schools to elect their representative on August 23. The board will hold its first meeting at the end of August.

As a result during 2005 the monitoring board did not inspect EFL schools. The board was also set up to carry out proper quality assurance of the schools. Inspections may start in the first week of September long after 95 per cent of the summer students would have gone back home. So this year has been a bonanza for so-called "cowboy" schools and no one can vouch for the quality of the academic services given. The negative results will be known in due course when it is more difficult to repair the damage done to the local EFL industry.

The vast majority of the schools not enrolled in the Federation of EFL schools (Feltom) did not attend the meeting of August 23. Feltom members are insisting on quality standards and they are investing heavily in an accreditation scheme.

The non-Feltom member schools that outnumber the Feltom member's number of schools do not have the same self-regulating conditions, so in their case the monitoring board inspections are essential.

EFL schools are also worried that they will continue to lose host families who are being scared away by the government's decision to tax further this sector.

Host families will simply decide not to keep any more students if the small profit most of them get from this activity will mean higher taxes, lower pensions and other social benefits. It will not be worthwhile for them and the EFL industry will lose one of its main pillars as a result as there is no way that accommodation in hotels can substitute for the welcoming environment and care that most of the families give the students.

The government is making life more difficult for EFL schools by discouraging them from trying to attract students and clients from non-European Union countries. The government has told them to look for other markets! This does not make business sense and is depriving our schools from reaping the benefits of growth regions in Asia, Latin America and the Arab world.

The regulations announced recently to make it easier for Chinese students to study English in Malta have actually made things worse.

The new procedures are too cumbersome and expensive making our country less competitive than others. The truth is that no visas are being issued to Chinese, Colombians, and Syrians, just to mention a few. As these usually come also during winter, schools have no option but to lay off the staff that would have normally been employed during the winter months.

What the government is doing is surely not the way to help the TEFL sector move forward and compete better against other destinations like the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. The government needs to make life easier for the TEFL sector by not imposing more taxes and by easing visa procedures for non-European Union students and by taking all the necessary steps to improve English language teaching in Malta and Gozo's primary and secondary schools.

Worldwide, English is being increasingly seen as the language of business, technology, science and modernity. No wonder there is a huge world market for English teaching.

We can increase our share of this market but we must ensure top quality courses in our schools, as we have to compete against established schools in Britain, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States.

There is a growing market for this business and we must work hard to increase our share of it. At present we have just fewer than seven per cent of the European market and a much lower share of the world market.

evaristbartolo@hotmail.com