New regulations for host families of students of English

The total number of 45,000 foreign students who came to Malta last year to study English, could go up this year, Tourism Minister Michael Refalo said yesterday.

Asked what kind of income was generated by this sector, the minister said no exercise had been undertaken to quantify the foreign exchange earnings of this niche so far as he was aware.

Dr Refalo was speaking during a news conference at the ministry in Valletta about new regulations that will shortly come into force for families who host students enrolled at English language schools.

Asked why the need for regulation was felt when the sector appeared healthy, the minister said the regulations compiled by the Malta Tourism Authority were meant to strengthen the sector and curb abuse.

"We cannot allow success to blind owners and administrators of schools, travel agents, host families and anyone else involved in teaching, hosting and ground handling from their responsibilities," the minister said.

The aim of the regulations was to ensure that accommodation met certain standards; that families should have a good command of the English language; that students younger than 18 would be well looked after and that licensees provide guests with a safe family environment.

Dr Refalo said that thanks to suggestions from host families, the regulations drawn up by the MTA had been amended, making them less costly and laborious.

For example, a police conduct certificate relating to all the members of the host family has been dispensed with. Now, only one conduct certificate by the licensee is required.

The licensee will, however, have to provide a declaration that no member of the household has been found guilty of a drug related offence or offence relating to sexual misconduct.

New conditions will deal with providing a higher degree of care for guests under 18, including giving them access to the premises at all times and the provision of appropriate meals.

Explaining the reasoning behind these conditions, Dr Refalo said that complaints by students included being locked out at night for arriving later than the time agreed with the host family and of being fed sandwiches instead of a proper meal as the rest of the family.

The regulations provide for the imposition of fines for host families operating without a licence and for barring access to authorised people to inspect the premises.

When asked, the minister said the service provided by host families was VAT exempt.

Dr Refalo said that for income tax purposes, host families would deduct expenses incurred for accommodating students from the income they received from English language schools.