In what will surely come as a relief to the English Language Training Sector and Universities as a whole, Department for International Trade Minister Graham Stuart has announced that the department will support the struggling sector.
Speaking at The English UK Summit, Stuart highlighted support plans, including a review into how the government and the ELT Sector have responded to the pandemic. Stuart’s promise of support arrives at a time when ELT centres in the country face numerous challenges, including an estimated loss of nearly half a billion pounds in revenue.
Additional methods of support for the sector highlighted by Stuart included a joint Department of International Trade/ Department for Education sector learning group review into the technicalities of supporting the sector.
The Department for International Trade is also working with the Hungarian government to develop an ‘ambitious’ nationwide language learning program to support teachers and students to enable them to take ELT courses abroad. The minister also outlined a planned virtual mission to Vietnam that the department is leading, which will be accompanied by 40 ELT organisations.
Stuart’s statements have arrived at the right time for the sector, as highlighted by the comments made by Jodie Gray, interim CEO of English UK during the summit.
Gray highlighted how the impact of Covid-19 on English UK and English ELT was “unexpected and unprecedented” with the closure of their teaching centres in March and the subsequent 81.7% reduction in student weeks from January till September, 2020, compared to the same period in 2019, was likely to cost them £510 million in lost revenue.
Despite these losses, Gray told delegates that English UK will continue to support ELT centres, stating that the organisation had pivoted its focus and adapted its strategy in response to Covid-19.
International Higher Education 