English Language Schools are seeing a number of cancellations by students due to international travel being affected by the Coronavirus abroad.
Whilst there are no Covid-19 cases in Malta, local English language schools are experiencing an increase in booking cancelations due to strict education travelling bans, The Malta Independent was informed by Federation of English Language Teaching Organisations Malta (FELTOM).
This newsroom referred to FELTOM to understand how the COVID-19 virus is truly affecting the English Language learning sector in Malta.
It is a well-known fact that tourism is one of Malta’s largest economic sectors, which plays an important factor in the country’s economic growth. Due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus abroad, Malta is already seeing an impact, as the hotels and restaurants sector has been hit.
Most recently, Italy shut down its schools for two weeks, and the Italian government has also suspended all school trips and exchange programmes, which the organisation explains is badly affecting language schools here in Malta.
FELTOM highlighted that with such a specific educational travel ban, the industry is automatically being affected. During the Easter holiday’s period, it has become popular for French and Italian students to come to Malta for an educational exchange programme, but this might not be the case this year.
The organisation highlighted that whilse the EU tends to protect consumer rights, FELTOM asks who will be covering the school’s cancellation charges. Malta is suffering due to other countries government’s choices and FELTOM is looking into how to salvage the industry during this difficult time.
FELTOM will be discussing these issues and the way forward with the authorities.
FELTOM stressed how important discussing the way forward is, especially since it was predicted that 2020 was meant to be one of the best years for tourism. There were many indications that this year was to be the best year for tourism but with the introduction of the ban, things might change, the organisation said.
The organisation said it has issued an impact assessment report on the industry and its own position paper.