Caught off guard: Language school federation condemns sudden school closures

The Federation of English Language Teaching Organisations in Malta (FELTOM) has reacted with shock and disbelief at the government’s decision to close English language schools in the wake of a spike in COVID-19 cases amongst foreign students.

The association condemned what it says is the lack of direction from government with regards the thousands of clients already on the island who have been left with no guidance.

“FELTOM and its member schools were unprepared and shocked by the Government’s unexpected and rigid decision to close down ELT schools. The sudden announcement of the closure of a specific section of the tourism market will be problematic not only for language schools but also for the entire tourism sector and other stakeholders, not to mention the greater EU tourism market.

“This sudden unilateral decision by the Government sends out a message that a cluster that did not emerge from any breach of protocols by operators within their schools, can lead to such disproportionate and extreme measures. Inevitably this will have significant economic consequences to the entire tourism industry, its employees and its stakeholders.”

The organisation said that while it respected the decision to restrict entry to Malta to fully vaccinated persons, it felt that the government had not allowed adequate time to the affected stakeholders to manage this sudden reversal of policies for all tourism.

“We feel that this is a drastic reaction reached by the Government without proper consultation with the stakeholders of the consequences and implications on the ELT Schools, its employees, its students (present and future) and all the stakeholders. Even with fully vaccinated tourists we can expect that similar clusters will occur in hotels and other tourist establishments and we ask to what extent will Government take similar measures to close these operators.

“Our member schools have, under the constant direction of, and collaboration with, the Public Health, implemented and followed the rules and guidelines as outlined by the authorities. Rest assured that the ELT Schools have invested enormous resources in terms of time, money, manpower and materials so that their schools operate within the parameters of these guidelines.”

While the schools have impressed on their employees and students the importance of adhering to the measures, including mask wearing and social distancing while in public, FELTOM complained that the reinforcement of such measures by the government “has been barely visible, bearing in mind that it is only government that has the authority to enforce such measures.”

FELTOM argued that the closure of all ELT schools was not warranted especially in view of the fact that the Government was now going to restrict entry to Malta to fully vaccinated persons in line with EU issued certificates.

“Schools should be allowed to remain open like all other public institutions to these vaccinated visitors. Most schools have actually done this successfully in the last 15 months or so without an increase in Covid cases in Malta,” FELTOM said.