The future of English language schools

The English Language Teaching (ELT) sector in Malta is probably the only sector within the tourist industry that is still growing, having doubled the number of foreign students who visited Malta from 30,000 in 1996 to 62,000 in 2005. The ELT sector yields an estimated Lm42 million, representing some eight per cent of the estimated foreign earnings from tourism, well over 1,800 jobs and a good product that has found favourable approval and recognition worldwide."

Showing the success of this sector, John Dimech, president of the Federation of English Language Schools in Malta (FELTOM), has no doubt that most of this is due to FELTOM. He says: "FELTOM has always been the leader in quality assurance for ELT programmes in Malta as it realised early on that quality is the only key to long-term success and stability of the EFL industry. About 15 years ago FELTOM began looking at quality standards for all aspects of ELT programmes and started making recommendations to Government to regulate what had been, until then, a largely unregulated sector.

"These recommendations formed the basis of the 1996 Legal Notice which binds all EFL schools on the island. With these regulations, Malta became the first country in the world with a government-regulated ELT industry. The monitoring board is legally constituted (within the Ministry of Education) and has been functioning for the past years as the official regulator of the ELT sector. It comprises representatives of the Ministries of Education and Tourism, the University of Malta, FELTOM (the association representing the ELT schools) and an elected representative of all licensed EFL schools."

There is general agreement that FELTOM has provided Malta with a professional platform from which it successfully projects itself as an English language learning destination that offers quality schools.

Mr Dimech lists a number of outstanding issues that need to be resolved by Government to enable this industry to grow further. He thinks a number of issues are being addressed by the government (or authorities), some of which are tough challenges. He stresses: "We need to change the perception of a "summer sun and fun" destination to one recognised as a quality destination for English Language Teaching as this can generate business in the winter and shoulder months."

He believes that the Malta Tourism Authority is already addressing the problem of seasonality; however, efforts can be intensified if embassies take this on board as well. "The lack of enforcement encourages abuse when national minimum standards are not observed, thus risking rendering disservice. The introduction of a special visa for the entire stay for the purpose of studying in Malta was definitely a step in the right direction. However, there is still the need for a better vetting system to eliminate arbitrary decisions.

"It is inconceivable that the authorities consider all citizens of certain countries as a risk if allowed to enter Malta. The government offers a number of incentives to the manufacturing industry, including financial support. Our sector has contributed towards the national economy through employment, taxes, VAT, investment, etc., over the years and, given the right support, the sector can grow and further increase such contribution."

Mr Dimech asks: "Why cannot the government organise and fund mini-delegations to visit specific countries that represent a potential market for Malta, and promote the ELT sector as a whole? The vocational, educational and training providers can be included in these delegations."

He also thinks that the government should evaluate whether Malta is better off now that we have a new method of income tax for host families, bearing in mind that the supply of families has decreased and the contributions from licences and VAT may have decreased as well. The feedback from a number of schools was that the new tax procedures discouraged families from hosting students and as a consequence the schools suffered a shortage of families. Mr Dimech also believes there is the need to offer some fiscal incentives - such as VAT exemption - to boost the sector and turn it into an all-year round operation, as is the case in the UK.

Mr Dimech goes on to say that FELTOM recognised that self-regulation was the most important aspect in convincing the authorities to introduce the national minimum standards of academic matters in the Nineties. FELTOM recognised the need for quality and it has taken a proactive approach in encouraging its members to adopt quality management systems.

FELTOM introduced an independent accreditation scheme this year as the members realised that the introduction of management systems would raise the quality of their schools. FELTOM believes that the accreditation scheme will provide its participating members with a manifest of commitment to meet and maintain a set of quality standards and the right to use the 'accredited' marquee to this effect.

Mr Dimech also believes that Malta already has a good name in the EFL world. FELTOM's name and its work are inextricably linked to the success or failure of this industry. "The new accreditation scheme will help ensure quality standards well into the future and these standards will eventually spill over to non-member schools either in the form of government legislation or as agents demand higher standards from the organisations they work with. The scheme will help to ensure that our member organisations are at the head of this trend and will add both prestige and financial value to FELTOM membership."

Competing worldwide

I asked Mr Dimech: How do you rate this industry's international competitiveness? How can we compete better on the world market? His reply: "Malta is the smallest destination among the more established countries competing in this sector, which includes the US, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Demand for South Africa, a very attractive country, is growing, and like all other destinations has a lot to offer. Malta faces a number of disadvantages but we overcome these through competitiveness and quality. With the exception of South Africa, English is the sole mother tongue in all these countries and the fact that the level of English spoken by the general public in Malta is not getting any better does not help."

A few weeks ago I wrote the article "Squeezing the families", articulating complaints that the host families have about being given a bad deal by English Language schools. "The majority of host families have an excellent relationship with schools, and whenever a particular problem arises they can easily discuss this between them and solve the problem. FELTOM schools have guidelines and agreements for host families and once these are accepted and agreed upon by signing the agreement it should be very straightforward, provided conditions are respected by both parties."

I told Mr Dimech that this summer we have had incidents caused by the disruptive behaviour of EFL young students. What can be done to address this problem? He answered: "FELTOM submitted its recommendations to the Minister of Tourism, the Commissioner of Police and to the MTA for a new campaign against the unruly behaviour of some foreign students.

While FELTOM has called for the authorities' support of this campaign on a national scale, it also recognised that this issue needs to be addressed by the stakeholders and that action needs to be taken by the schools themselves.

"FELTOM issued guidelines and encouraged its school members to control organised outings better and to stress to students the need to avoid vandalism, indecency and the lack of cleanliness in the public places they frequent. A number of meetings with the MTA are planned for this winter in time for preparations to be made for next summer."

Mr Dimech looks to the future with optimism. "This is a healthy sector as the majority of the stakeholders have invested well in their operations. The sector has great potential for growth provided that more concerted efforts are made especially by the government."