The increase in the number of students who visit Malta to learn English is the direct result of the professional tuition provided, the modern legal and educational structure supporting the learning process and the high standards provided by host families, said Tourism and Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech.

Dr Zammit Dimech was speaking to some students and host families during a visit to EC Malta, which was established in 1991 and which now owns year-round operating centres for adult students in Malta, London, Cambridge, Brighton and Cape Town. Junior summer programmes are also held at EC’s schools in Malta and the UK.

“Whenever I visit an English language school, two important factors come to mind: the students and the host families. The students are the backbone of this tourism segment while the host families are the people who contribute so much to the industry by means of their sterling service,” said Dr Zammit Dimech.

He said that in line with the government’s policy to assist the tourism sector, a number of initiatives were introduced to support host families. He said that due to the advantageous fiscal structure that was set up, the first Lm1,000 earned by host families are tax free, while tax is only levied on the remaining one-third of earnings.

The minister said host families were also being given the option to choose whether they wanted to be exempted from the national insurance contribution retrospectively. He said that the Lm40 contribution to the MTA was now also waived.

EC chief executive officer Andrew Mangion said that during the first five-and-a-half months of the year, 900 of their students spent their stay with host families. A total of 69 per cent of these rated the service they received from host families as “excellent”. Another 29 per cent said the service was “good” or “very good”, while only two per cent said the service was not good.

Highlighting the important role of host families in the language-learning industry, Mr Mangion said he hoped that the same excellent levels would be maintained throughout the summer months.

Dr Zammit Dimech said English language learning was one of the tourism industry’s most important sectors. He said an estimated 66,000 foreigners visited Malta to learn English in 2006, accounting for an increase of seven per cent over 2005.

He said EC Malta is committed to quality tuition, accommodation, leisure and welfare. He said EC Malta was proud to not only meet the expectations of its clients, but also to surpass them.