English language schools, which have had 60,000 cancellations due to the coronavirus outbreak, will be reopening their doors at “substantial losses” come July 1.

Their federation on Thursday called for a specific rescue package for the schools, failing which Malta “might not have an English language teaching industry in the years to come”.

The cancellations have resulted in the loss of millions of euros, said the Federation of English Language Teaching Organisations in Malta (FELTOM).

It said it was directing its member schools to open their doors in the first week of July but they would inevitably have to endure significant financial sacrifices.

“We are doing this out of goodwill and because we would like to send a positive message that we are willing to pull the same rope as the government in its quest to return to a semblance of normality.

Doing this out of goodwill

“However, we would also like the government to understand and be aware that those language schools that do decide to open will be doing so at substantial financial losses to their businesses,” a FELTOM spokesperson said.

Operating at a loss would be unavoidable unless the government guaranteed a “fair and properly-costed” rescue package specific for the industry.

A Deloitte report commissioned by the federation at the start of the pandemic put the estimated losses from cancellations at €8.8 million for the schools. By the same calculations, that figures would stand at about €20.3 million today, the spokesperson said.

FELTOM said that of the 19 destinations allowed to operate to Malta, only Germany, Austria and Switzerland were proper markets for the ELT industry. Traditionally, the biggest niche markets for the summer are Italy, Spain, France and Russia, which do not form part of the list.

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