Most English language schools report drop in students

The majority of English language schools in Malta registered a decline in the number of students starting a course in the first half of the year, results of a global survey show.

Under 10 per cent of local schools said they had seen a growth in business, as prospects for the second half of the year remain bleak.

The survey follows news that language schools were expecting a double-digit percentage drop in the number of student nights during what was described as a "horrible summer".

The survey was carried out by the Global Alliance of Education and Language Associations and the Federation of Education and Language Consultant Associations. It was released yesterday during a conference to mark the 20th anniversary of the Federation of English Language Teaching Organisations Malta (Feltom).

Only 20 per cent of local English language schools were positive about the coming six months when answering the questionnaire in July. More than 60 per cent had negative feelings about the prospects for the language travel industry for the rest of the year.

Feltom president Andrew Mangion said that, although Malta was experiencing a difficult year, it was imperative to focus on the positive. "I am starting to feel more confident for 2010," he said, adding that he was "cautiously optimistic".

Mr Mangion said that about 60 agents from 25 countries were attending the conference in Malta to discuss business for next year.

The survey also showed that Germany, Malta's top source market in the first half of the year, was also the one to register the highest drop in the same months under review.

Malta experienced decreasing demand from Spanish students in the first six months of the year.

On the other hand, local language schools said the Italian market had the biggest growth in the first half of 2009. Internationally, Britain, the US and Canada topped the list of most popular destination countries for agents to send their students to learn English. Korea, Saudi Arabia and China were the top three source countries in the first six months of the year, although South Korea was among those to register a decline. Saudi Arabia and China joined Brazil in registering the highest growth in the first half of the year.

Among the problems mentioned by colleges were visas, which laid barriers for students wanting to study in another country, although Mr Mangion said the Maltese government supported the industry in this regard. The emergence of swine flu earlier this year also posed problems and currency fluctuations saw some countries struggle.

Malta was the first country to introduce national legislation to regulate the teaching of English as a foreign language and Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said legislation would continue to be strengthened through a draft Bill on further and higher education that would lay a bigger emphasis on lifelong learning and would recognise and validate informal and non-formal education initiatives.

Dr Gonzi said the Education Ministry's Monitoring Board, which was directly responsible for the licensing and monitoring of all English as a Foreign Language operations, was actively reviewing teacher professional qualifications. It was also looking at the criteria to establish and operate an English language teaching school with the aim of bringing these in line with modern industry trends.

He said that, among other initiatives, the board would be introducing a national accreditation scheme that would systematically audit English language teaching operations and provide independent quality assurance while providing for schools that fulfilled particular criteria to accredit their language programmes and institutions to the Malta Qualifications Framework and the European Qualifications Framework.

Facts and figures

• The global language travel industry was valued at $10.5 (€7.2) billion in 2007. In that year, over 1.5 million students travelled to an English-speaking country to learn English.

• More than 83,000 students came to learn English at one of Malta's 42 language schools in 2008, spending a total of 216,000 weeks and injecting about €85 million into the local economy.

• More than 60 per cent of students who come to learn English in Malta are over 18 years.

• Almost half of English language students come to Malta in the shoulder and winter months.

• The language travel industry amounts for some 13.5 per cent of bed nights in Malta.