ELT Schools in Malta received 15,000 cancellations
The government of Malta released a statement on 9th July about the closure of English language schools and their in-person classes from 14th July. The decision was taken to protect the Maltese population that has still not been fully vaccinated.
The new restriction has affected not only students but also tourists aged 12 and over as only the ones with a valid vaccination certificate against Covid-19 recognised by the Superintendent of Public Health of Malta have been able to enter the country without a mandatory hotel quarantine. Children aged between 5-11 years must be accompanied by a vaccinated parent/guardian and present a negative RT-PCR test result taken no longer than 72 hours before arrival into Malta.
Following the announcement, FELTOM (Federation of English Language Teaching Organisations) posted on Facebook that this had been a shock to the ELT sector, leaving them unprepared with such short notice.
Furthermore, FELTOM held a meeting with the government outlining possible solutions of how the government and the association could work together such as ensuring that all staff and students are protected against the spreading of the virus and allowing the adult vaccinated students to take in-person classes. The government was also presented with an outline of a rescue package to protect the 2,000 jobs that depend on the survival of the sector. The post from the organization stated that since the government news the member schools received 15,000 cancellations.
Schools in Malta reopened at the beginning of June and to attract students, the Malta Tourism Authority introduced a voucher scheme allowing to give ELT students €10 per day to spend locally but when the new restriction was announced by the government, all the hard work of the schools and the ELT industry had been ruined.
FELTOM felt that the government announcement was not fair and that schools should have been allowed to remain open for vaccinated adult students, just as other tourism facilities are open for vaccinated tourists. The sector is now left to wait for the government to find a solution for the survival of the sector.
On LinkedIn, there has been frustration among ELT providers and Andrew Mangion, CEO of EC English Language Centres, commented the following:
“Blantant & Unashamed Discrimination at the highest Levels.”
“Just over 10days, ago the language travel industry was summarily shut down in Malta with zero consultation with the industry. Schools were thrown into disarray and 12,000 students, many of them children were left with nothing to do during the day but roam the streets and beaches. A covid-19 outbreak in the North of the island, likely the Delta variant and also likely imported into the island with the reopening of British tourism, spread amongst young people most of whom were asymptomatic. Rather than work with schools to solve the problem a surgeon just cut our legs off. This “cut first ask questions later” might work in his clinic but this has set off an avalanche that is out of control. It’s time the people in this country started asking for a second opinion before we kill what is left of our fragile economy. Enough is Enough….why did we hold on for so long and all get vaccinated. Wasn’t that the point of vaccines?? How can a person come to Malta on a flight, pass through our packed airport freely, stay in a hotel, go to a restaurant without a mask, roam the streets, ride a bus, go to a bar or club, work out in a gym, go on a packed boat cruise, visit a museum, pray in a church freely….but then that same 40year old double vaccinated person cannot study English in a school that tests their temperature at every entry and places them in socially distanced classes wearing masks at all times. The title gives it away!”
