For more than a decade, Malta's English Language Teaching (ELT) sector has seen little progress. Despite the number of schools growing to around 34, the flow of international students coming to the islands to learn English has stalled, remaining between 75,000 and 87,000.

In an interview with The Malta Independent on Sunday, NSTS director Francis Stivala describes the situation as "disturbing", pointing out that this flatline has persisted even as overall tourism to Malta has increased significantly.

Back when Malta was welcoming just over a million tourists a year, the ELT sector was already drawing in about 80,000 students. Today, despite larger tourist numbers - Malta received 3.5 million tourists last year - and more institutions offering English language courses, students' intake hasn't budged (excluding Covid years, when the numbers dropped significantly as a result of the pandemic).

"Our reach abroad is not arriving," Stivala warned, suggesting that Malta may have hit its cap in this market.

This stagnation has triggered fierce competition among local schools, all vying for a limited pool of students - an environment Stivala believes "may not be all that healthy". In his view, a shift in strategy is urgently needed. "A new dynamic needs to be introduced," he said, stressing the importance of breaking through the current limitations in order to reinvigorate Malta's appeal as a destination for English learners.

Stivala suggests that Malta can have its name strengthened by communicating its "good quality schools" and appealing to interested persons abroad that way.

He said that adult students are "very selective" in where they choose to go to learn English, and that people in general looking to improve their lingual skills "don't just look for the cheapest option" available.

"There is always the pressure on price, but we shouldn't just dump ourselves for the sake of saying 'we have numbers'," Stivala said.

Stivala rejected the notion that the tens of thousands of students who enter the country annually make enough of a numerical difference to contribute to local overtourism, especially in light of the recent boom of inbound tourists visiting Malta.

"I don't believe that the 80,000, 90,000 or 100,000 will make a numerical difference - there are so many other contributing factors," he said.

Three out of every four of these students are European, while the remaining quarter come from other regions, primarily Latin America and Asia. Popular countries include Colombia, Brazil and Japan. According to Stivala, students from Latin America and Asia are typically adults.

Bad reputation

Over the years, rowdy students have given the English Language School sector a bad name, and Stivala believes that it should be the schools "who take the first step" to address the bad reputation Maltese people have of foreign students.

He acknowledged the ill reputation that foreign English language students have attained over the years among locals and noted that this must be addressed "by the approaches the schools take towards our students".

He said that even though the quantity of English language students is not increasing numerically year-on-year, their presence arguably is, due to local overtourism concerns and due to a number of them misbehaving during their relatively long stays in the country and making headlines for it.

Stivala said that nowadays, it is common to hear about "rowdy English language students" and that those who run amok while in Malta are "a pain to us".

The NSTS director, who said he was projecting his institute's philosophy throughout this discussion, noted that through a big effort, namely through some analysis with the assistance of qualified people, one can address the issue of English language students being perceived as problem generators.

When asked whether the mushrooming of English language schools locally has had negative ramifications on the sector as a whole, the NSTS director implied that there are stark differences between schools that are "educationally motivated or monetarily motivated by the sector's potential". In this regard, he observed that the mushrooming of schools - because of the heightened presence of monetarily motivated ones - has had an influence on the sector's overall quality.

Part of this also relates to the school's perceived responsibility over its students. While NSTS fills out the itineraries of all its students under the age of 18, including in the evenings through activities, other language schools, depending on their business outlook, are not fussed about what their students do beyond schooling hours.

Stivala said that an imbalance persists between schools that wish to enshrine a quality education first and foremost and those whose priority is a numbers game. "It is more onerous" on boutique schools like NSTS, that don't go for numbers, to keep their students happy and enjoying themselves within a good environment.

This is of great concern when one factors in that the negative reputation has hindered this very sector in the past.

Stivala recounted that some years ago, "the French market dried up" after a French media company came, held several interviews, and downgraded Malta in the eyes of its viewers after word went round that French students were not being cared for by host families.

Serious ramifications

He said that schooling for the pure sake of financial gain by bringing more people into the country has led to instances that have had serious ramifications on the entire ELT sector.

Stivala stated that nowadays, the ELT sector in Malta is divided into two parts: "those who belong to the Federation of English Language Teaching Organisations Malta (Feltom) and have adhered to quality, and then there are others who look upon the activity as a business" on the other extreme.

He said that from all English language schools, just 14 of them, including the NSTS English Language Institute, are members of Feltom. He said that Feltom ensures quality within the sector through "a stiff accreditation system" that regulates member schools and holds them liable through regular inspections.

Stivala said that on average, language students spend close to three weeks in the Maltese islands, while "normal" tourists spend just around four or five nights. Moreover, European English language students typically spend between one-to-two weeks here, while others coming from further parts of the world may spend up to 14 weeks in Malta to enhance their English language skills.

In the context that many of these students are minors and young adults, Stivala spoke about the need for these schools to understand these people, their outlooks on life (which may vary due to cultural differences), and the "different parameters in their behaviour". For instance, he described that young people today "do not tend to appreciate" the Maltese cultural heritage as older generations do, and therefore, this must be presented to them by the schools in an engaging manner.

Through his experience, Stivala said it is not right to condemn the younger generation for being the way they are, but rather, adults have the duty to guide them. He also observed that respect "has lost its value in life today" and that young people today do not respond to discipline as previous generations did; where it used to be exercised strictly, "it now more about negotiation than guiding them toward what's better, what should be followed, and setting an example", Stivala said.

He said that the ELT sector is witnessing "a new ethos and spirit of students coming forward" through young students, and that if the schools nurture that and help them develop, then they could proactively look to address this issue over time. Stivala is of the opinion that more mature students should be treated differently and that on several occasions, they are motivated to improve their English so that they can do better business.

Stivala expressed his concern that "there is a dearth of English teachers", particularly during the winter. He said that a large number of teachers now are non-Maltese.

He said that since the pandemic, it has become difficult to find and retain host families as well. The necessity for all adults within a household to work has not helped, he added.

Stivala is optimistic towards the future of the ELT sector. He said that the Malta Tourism Authority is working more than it used to in past years to promote the sector. He remains optimistic that more students will be drawn to the Maltese islands to study English.