Language schools estimate €100,000 loss in one day

Language schools estimate that the damage they suffered in just one day during the four-day public transport strike that paralysed the island two weeks ago surpassed the €100,000 mark, The Times has learnt.

Practically, the strike hit all sectors of the economy, but was particularly felt by the tourism industry where clients remained stranded. The student industry was also badly hit with foreign English language students having to walk to school for up to two hours under the scorching sun.

When contacted, Andrew Mangion, president of the Federation of English Language Teaching Organisations in Malta (Feltom), said the figure was a "conservative estimate".

There are 50 licensed schools on the island with 36 operating all year round and 16 being Feltom members, although between them, these represent between 65 and 70 per cent of the total market in terms student numbers.

The public transport strike ran from July 14-17. The schools felt the pinch on the second day of the strike when other transport operators refused to carry students due to clashes with striking bus, taxi, hearse and mini-van drivers, Mr Mangion said.

Feltom estimates that on that day the language schools lost about 5,000 student days because students were unable to attend class.

The first day of the strike did not impact the schools that much because other means of transport were available and schools made ad hoc arrangements.

Afternoon and evening activities had to be cancelled or postponed and the cost of these missed activities ran into thousands of euro. Tours to Valletta and Mdina, for example, had to be cancelled because of lack of transport.

There were about 16,000 students on the island at the time, which is considered to be "the peak of the peak" of the language tourism business.

Several agents and students, Mr Mangion said, had complained about the situation getting calls from worried parents asking about the safety and security of their children.

Mr Mangion said he was not aware of any requests for compensation, adding that many of the students who were here during the four days of the strike were still on the island now. He said he had heard of one school that had to make arrangements for some students return home early.

He did not rule out the possibility of claims for compensation once the students arrive home.

A student who spoke to this newspaper on condition of anonymity said the transport strike left her with a very bad impression of the country. "I have experienced strikes in my country but never like the one here. I did not get a good first impression of the country and cut short my seven-week stay to go study English elsewhere. I'm very sorry because the comments I had heard about Malta were very positive but my experience was not so good."

mxuereb@timesofmalta.com