Updated at 7.55pm: adds ELT statement
English language schools are being seen as a gateway to the European Union for non-EU students who often get their hands on visas without going on to attend a single class, The Sunday Times of Malta has learnt.
“We do receive reports about this, in fact I am certain that if we were to check every language school in Malta we would find that this has been happening at nearly all of them,” a senior police investigator said. “It is something that we are aware of but it is very difficult to take action against.”
Malta has dozens of English language schools, which are a major contributor to the tourism sector.
Another police source said: “Some of these people probably never set foot in a classroom and head straight to the airport with their visa and into the EU.”
The issue was flagged after The Sunday Times of Malta learnt that a whistleblower had reported an alleged racket involving an English language school and a suspicious middleman to the police last month.
According to the whistleblower, who spoke to this newspaper on the condition of anonymity, the racket, which began in 2014, saw the school team up with the middleman to funnel third-country nationals, mostly from the UAE, into Europe, charging thousands of euros for student visas.
The whistleblower told The Sunday Times of Malta that the racket had worked for the language school by providing paying students, who in turn got their hands on student visas, which got them into the Schengen area.
The alleged racket also required the language schools, as visas were issued only after the students applied to them for classes.
READ: €10,000: The price for staying in Malta
The police sources confirmed that they had received the whistleblower’s tip and were investigating the matter.
A familiar story
However, contacted earlier this week, one of the senior officers on the case said the alleged abuse was a familiar story.
“This is something that we have investigated a few times. The problem is there is little wrong on the face of it. If a student signs up for lessons and never attends, schools aren’t obliged to report it.
It is something that we are aware of but it is very difficult to take action against
“So unless you catch someone who is actually charging for student visas, for instance – and giving them to people who have no intention of studying English – there isn’t much we can do,” the officer explained.
Sources at Identity Malta’s Visa Unit said that a number of reports of students never showing up for class after receiving a visa had been filed by schools over the years. They had also received anonymous tips about similar rackets and said these had been forwarded to the police for investigation.
“If we do receive reports of persons on a student visa not attending their school, then we can, and have, revoked these visas,” the sources said.
Meanwhile, James Perry, the chief executive of the Federation of English Language Teaching Organisations (Feltom), said its members would automatically report any students who did not attend school to the authorities.
Feltom has some 20 member schools, and Mr Perry said he was unaware of any wrongdoing involving its members.
He added that the federation carried out routine checks of member schools to ensure attendance records tallied.
Student visas are just one of the official documents that authorities believe have been abused by those trying to get into the country.
Back in 2016 this newspaper also reported how a whistleblower had blown the cover on a racket that saw Libyans paying thousands of euros in bribes to get their hands on medical visas.
And just last month, another Sunday Times of Malta report detailed one Tunisian family’s claims that they paid nearly €10,000 to grease the palms of immigration police and national authorities in a bid to avoid detention. They claim they too paid a middleman, who said he could use government and police contacts to secure residency, for a price.
ELT statement
The claim that English language schools are not obliged to report students who sign up for lessons and never attend is factually incorrect, the English Language Teaching Council said on Sunday.
It said in a statement schools were not only expected to file a report when students failed to show up for lessons but also when their attendance was below 70%.
Enforcement measures were taken against schools that were not in compliance with this requirement and visa regulations.
Schools also had to report unjustified absences immediately and there was a procedure in place that schools had to follow at all times.
The ELT council's management team worked very closely with Identity Malta to maintain an effective system of enforcement and due diligence through spot checks, regular inspections and verification of attendance reports.
Individual schools also had disciplinary procedures in place through which they could suspend students not attending lessons and not issue them with certificates.
ELT council CEO Sue Falzon said the council visited schools a number of times every year to ensure compliance and adherence to policies. Factual evidence and spot checks indicated that the vast majority of schools were committed to delivering a quality language learning experience, complying with local regulations, and safeguarding Malta’s international reputation.
Apart from regular monitoring, once a report was received from the police, the visa authorities or any other source, no stone was left unturned in proceeding against schools abusing regulations, she said.
Mr Perry said member schools could lose their accreditation and membership if accusations were proven.
“If such cases exist, it is within the interest of the industry that these schools or individuals be identified and action taken against them and not the industry as a whole,” he said.