The president of the Federation of English Language Teaching Organisations Malta (FELTOM) has praised the newly constituted EFL schools’ monitoring board, but insisted that it requires proper funds.

“It’s great to have good people, but they require financial resources, which we hope will form part of Budget 2010,” said FELTOM president Andrew Mangion.

Contacted by this newspaper regarding Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi’s statement about quality assurance for language schools, Mr Mangion expressed confidence in the board’s work in reviewing the entire legal notice (L.N. 60/1996) that established the monitoring board to issue language school licences and oversee the maintenance of standards.

“Our understanding is that the board will review and amend the legal notice within the next 12 months,” said Mr Mangion.

FELTOM, which represents 18 language schools, has its own accreditation system and Mr Mangion said it would support a well-run, well-managed, professional national accreditation scheme.

“This would allow for a level playing field for all schools on the island, rather than just FELTOM schools.

“The monitoring board is not only reviewing teachers’ professional qualifications, but the entire legal notice. This is about revisiting a legal notice that needs to be dynamic. Raising the standards of every language school would benefit the entire industry.”

Speaking about quality assurance for language schools, the prime minister was one of the keynote speakers at the closing session of a three-day event organised over the past weekend to celebrate FELTOM’s 20th anniversary.

Mr Mangion said about 60 agents were invited to Malta to familiarise themselves with the country and the EFL industry at large. The agents also participated in very intensive workshops with staff from 27 local language schools (both FELTOM and non-FELTOM schools).

The last day of the FELTOM event was aimed at exploring the long-term future of the EFL industry, both locally and internationally.

About 70 per cent of students who visit Malta to study English choose FELTOM member schools, which go through an accreditation exercise once every three years.

“FELTOM will not open its doors to language schools that are not prepared to go through our holistic accreditation process.

“FELTOM is open to language schools, but it is not for everyone,” said Mr Mangion.

FELTOM member schools are accredited according to the state of their premises, their safety measures, their academic programmes, their staffing and qualifications, as well as their promotion programmes, ensuring that they are selling what they actually have available.