The reasons given by the Federation of English Language Schools (Feltom) to explain the slump in the number of families willing to accommodate students coming over to learn English exonerate the schools – when, in actual fact, a good number of families who have stopped the practice have done so mostly because of the way they are treated by schools.

This year, the number of families who have the licence to host foreign students amounts to a mere 1,000, down from 1,281 in 2009. The decline has been steady since 2007, when the number stood at 1,433 before going down to 1,384 a year later. This has meant that schools have had to make use of more hotels to accommodate their students.

Asked to say why there was such a decrease in the number of host families, Feltom put the blame squarely on issues that are not directly connected to the relationship that schools under its wing have with the families who host the students. While the reasons given have contributed to the decline, Feltom cannot ignore the fact that English language schools have their part to play in sustaining the industry and that their shortcomings have also pushed host families away.

It is true, as Feltom is saying, that the recession affected the number of students who came over to Malta, and some families decided not to renew their licence this year.

It is also true that the rise in utility rates has increased the expenses for host families, and some no longer believe it is worth going through all the trouble.

The rate of exchange also made Malta less competitive.

But what Feltom failed to admit, or at least acknowledge, is that the way schools treat their host families leaves so much to be desired, and that many of them opt out simply because they can no longer withstand the arrogance of some school officials.

It is not only a matter of money. Yes, some schools have not raised the rates they pay their host families as much as was expected, and this did not help convince families that they should continue to host students. Today, many families think that it is no longer sustainable for them to have these youngsters in their home, and the little money that they earn does not compensate for all the hard work and responsibility involved.

But there are other things as well. It is the way schools treat families each time the latter need some support that has irked so many of them. It is how schools shirk all responsibility – or most of it – when students, many of whom are teenagers, are involved in mishaps outside the school premises that annoys so many families. It is the way schools fail to help when, for example, property belonging to the families is damaged by the students staying with them that has pushed host families away.

There have been many occasions when families felt that they had been abandoned in times of need. In reporting instances when students turn up late after going out in the evening or do not want to go to school in the morning, they are told that the schools cannot do much.

Likewise, the schools seem to wash their hands of all responsibility for the behaviour of students outside school hours. What police officers said in a court case this week – that they are finding it impossible to control what happens in St George’s Bay, so much so that they are calling for its closure during the night – is evidence that the schools are not doing enough.

These are issues that Feltom needs to address too if this industry is to survive. It cannot blame only external factors when it comes to explaining the decline in the number of host families. It must look within, and see that its members are following the rules properly. It must accept that schools have deficiencies that they need to correct. It must see that the schools do their utmost to see that the students they bring over behave properly, in and out of the school.