Lately there has been a surge of criticism levied at schools of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) because of nuisance caused by their students, but according to the schools’ federation, the criticism is not justifiable.

John Dimech, president of the Federation of English Language Teaching Organisations Malta (FELTOM) holds that some criticism, especially that of Dr Harry Vassallo, has been way too harsh and cast some shadows on the industry, giving the impression that schools were irresponsible.

The FELTOM president acknowledged that there has been a notable number of residents, especially in the St Julian’s area, who have had to endure continuous pranks by students. “They are right in complaining; it is simply not fair that residents have to endure such hardships. Although I am a stakeholder, I too live in the area and can sympathise with residents; but what can residents do? They do not have the authority to tell them to stop or else face the consequences – that’s the police’s job. Now if the police want to shy away from their responsibilities then that is another story,” thundered Mr Dimech.

He maintained that it was in the schools’ own interest that students did not run amok. However, they could not address all issues alone as there was the need for greater collaboration between them and the government. This was especially relevant where it came to enforcement as this was usually carried out by the authorities and the state. Language schools, said Mr Dimech, were ready to live up to their responsibilities, but the authorities had to do their part as well.

In the UK, the Sussex Police designed an initiative called the Columbus Project to ensure the safety and well being of students. It is a partnership between police, language schools, student bodies and local authorities which seeks to apply the best practice from lessons learned through years of practical application.

Mr Dimech said he had exposed this concept to Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech last year. “I am not saying that this should be done,” said Mr Dimech, “but this is a very good model of how a combined effort can curb problems for society at large. After all, if there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Through this project, the police give advice and guidance to students which is handed down by local authorities and language schools. For their part, schools appoint staff as liaison officers to ensure good communication between students, schools, councils and police which help prevent problems and also deal with any that may occur.

Schools employ people to look over students, and some employees lodge with the students in hotels. “However,” said Mr Dimech, “when it comes to law enforcement there is little one can do, except of course go to the police.” The law itself, added Mr Dimech, was clear about the schools’ responsibilities but not about implementation and obligations, and to this effect FELTOM is calling upon Education Minister Louis Galea to revise existing legislation. Mr Dimech said the minister agreed about revising the law.

FELTOM has also approached Justice Minister Tonio Borg and called for greater enforcement while acknowledging the schools’ own responsibilities. Mr Dimech said the current law includes a suggestion by FELTOM saying that schools should be responsible for non-academic matters, such as adequate supervision for students under 18 years of age as well as a 24-hour emergency service. “There is no need for extraordinary action. The French embassy, on its own initiative asked me and the schools to supply contact numbers of those responsible for French nationals so as to pre-empt confusion in the event of something happening to French students,” said Mr Dimech. “Can’t local authorities follow suit?” asked the FELTOM president.

The Maltese EFL industry is competing with other countries that have a strong potential, but nonetheless local figures show that the industry has more than doubled in size over the past 10 years.

In fact, during this period, the industry grew from 30,000 students to this year’s estimated 70,000.

Other competitive markets include the UK, the US, Ireland and Australia, with Cyprus and South Africa trying to enter the market although the latter, despite being an exotic location, is still being perceived as an unsafe country, especially by Asians.

In fact, these prefer Australia, although Maltese schools are trying to penetrate that market, particularly China and South Korea.

The UK is very strong in the market and was recently boosted by the Prime Minister’s initiative, where then-Prime Minister Tony Blair allocated an enormous budget to support and attract education for international students.

FELTOM is a self-regulating association for 17 EFL of the 45 schools in Malta.

These control 70 per cent of the industry. FELTOM is officially recognised by the Education and Tourism ministries and holds consultative status within the Malta Tourism Authority.