The number of students studying English in Malta decreased by almost 3% last year, according to recent statistics, with a drop in students aged 16-25 quelling growth seen in the previous year.
Figures from the National Statistics Office show the junior market and adult market exhibited strong enrolment figures between 2014 and 2015, but not enough to overshadow poor results from young adults.
This decline is due to the huge decrease from the Russian and Libyan markets which accounted for much of the 16-25s, according to Genevieve Abela, CEO of FELTOM.
“This is reflective of the instability in at least two major markets for Malta, namely Russia and Libya”
“When the Libyan market disappeared what happened was we lost that cohort of that age group and now the stronger age group would be the 15 and unders,” she said.
The Libyan market decreased by 882 students between 2014 and 2015, with Russia dropping out of the top three sending countries to fourth, after a decline of 3,709 students to 5,720 in a year.
Student weeks for students aged 16-17 fell by almost 17%, with the 18-25 cohort falling by close to 16%.
Malta welcomed 75,524 English students last year, a fall of 2,026 from the year before.
The decrease of 2.6% was mirrored by a fall in student weeks, which declined by 2.9% to 238,481 last year.
“This is reflective of the instability in at least two major markets for Malta, namely Russia and Libya,” said Abela. “And also the overall economic issues facing Europe today.”
Substantial growth was evident in enrolments for students under 15, with the number rising from 17,264 in 2014 to 21,247 last year. The adult market also increased, with the number of 36-49 year olds swelling by 12%, and the age cohort of 50+ showing a further 5.5% rise.
In terms of source markets, top senders Italy, Germany and France remained fairly strong, between them accounting for just under half (47.6%) of the total number of English language students in Malta.
Italy saw 17,956 students study English in Malta last year, with Germany sending 10,364, a decrease of 616 and 141 students, respectively.
“Russian parents are choosing destinations which offer an immigration option, should further instability arise”
France, on the contrary, saw an increase of 269 students to 7,567 last year. Russia and Austria completed the top five.
“In the case of Russia specifically, international countries like Australia, Canada, and the USA are seeing an increase in the junior Russian market simply because parents are choosing destinations which offer an immigration option, should further instability arise,” commented Abela.
However, a number of other countries saw figures rise, including Japan and Turkey. The Czech Republic also displayed an increase of 116%, with the number of students from Brazil increasing by 55% between 2014 and 2015.
Looking at student weeks, Italy delivered 29,627, followed by Germany with 21,297 and France with 17,667.
The number of average weeks per student, however, remained the same as last year, 3.2.
With an average of 15.9 weeks, students from Colombia recorded the highest average stay, followed by Libyan and Turkish students with an average of 11.9 and 7.8 weeks respectively.
The number of English language students arriving in Malta last year made up 4.2% of the total number of tourist arrivals to the country. The figure peaked at 7.7% in July, and fell as low as just over 1% in December.
In a bid to align the sector with the country’s booming tourism industry, the Malta Tourism Authority said that for the first time, budgets will be allocated to ELT industry segments within regions.
Speaking from the annual Feltom workshop this year, Paul Bugeja, CEO of the Malta Tourism Authority emphasised the importance of ties between the two sectors.
“Entertainment and learning should be hand in hand as these assure the uniqueness of the product that Malta is offering in the ELT industry,” he said.
“Quality, consistency and commitment are finally the keys that will help this industry to grow further.”
