Education tourism is an important niche sector in the travel industry. English language schools in Malta, Ireland, Canada, the UK and Australia contributed significantly to job creation and government revenue as demand for their services went up and up before the pandemic.
The business model of these schools is now being stress tested.
COVID has shaken the English language school industry to the extent that some have already closed down while others are considering doing so unless they receive immediate help from the government.
Their cry for help is justified and, to some extent, has been addressed in the last budget. But even if the COVID medical crisis is resolved within a few months, which experts believe it will not be, language schools will need to update their business model to ensure that their activities are sustainable.
The lifeline that the government has provided until next March for sectors that have been most adversely affected by COVID is more than justified in order to keep employment from collapsing and businesses from declaring bankruptcy.
The cascading economic benefits of English language schools are reaped by owners of the schools, the teachers they employ, the families that provide accommodation, the bars and restaurants that the students visit, as well as by the government in the form of revenue from VAT and income tax.
Many English language schools worldwide are rethinking their business model. They know that demand for learning English as a second language (ESL) is still on the rise even if the logistics of providing lessons have changed dramatically.
The better-managed schools are aiming to prosper by adopting long-term solutions that will satisfy their students and teachers, not a quick fix that may not be enough to keep them from going out of business.
Schools in Canada, for instance, are working hard to adopt e-learning applications for their classrooms as demand from Chinese students of English as a second language soars.
The effect of lockdowns and travel restrictions put in place to contain the pandemic have been devastating for language schools everywhere. But in various market countries, the desire of students to learn English as a second language has become even more intense during the lockdown.
When quarantine began, most language schools offering online learning scrambled to find more qualified teachers to meet the sudden surge in demand for internet-based ESL courses. As demand rose, though, the supply of teachers qualified to provide online courses did not improve. Some Canadian language schools, for instance, are paying their online teachers 30 per cent more to attract them to the job as well as doubling their performance bonus in some cases.
Local English language schools should use the lull in business caused by COVID to revise their business model, because taxpayers’ support cannot be guaranteed forever. The move to digitalisation in most services, including education, is irreversible. COVID has just accelerated the development of this trend.
Using Zoom and other internet teleconferencing applications is not the only element to develop in a well-thought-out e-teaching strategy. Staff need to be trained in item-writing because there is nothing worse than floundering on a poorly written question in front of a class.
Students today have become familiar with e-learning and are unlikely to shy away from learning a second language simply because it means they will not be in a physical classroom.
No one knows when we will be able to put the COVID crisis behind us. The best thing that language schools can do is to have a robust online arm to mitigate the risks they face.