Until the pandemic, Brazilian students were the third-largest cohort coming to Malta to study English as a foreign language. They were right behind Italy in first place, at 12% of intake, and Columbia at 9.1%. Brazil made up 9%, as reported in the Times of Malta.
However, the same article went on to explain that, as Brazil remains on Malta’s dark-red list, to enter the country would-be students must either quarantine for 10 days or spend two weeks in a green-list country first. Since other countries have lifted all restrictions, Brazilians are not bothering to jump through Malta’s hoops to go study there. Instead, many are heading to Canada or Ireland, which are Malta’s closest rivals for Brazilian English-language students.
Maltese language schools, like many in the sector worldwide, have taken a huge hit due to Covid. Andrew Mangion, executive chairman and CEO of EC Malta, one of the country’s main English language schools, has been vocal about the need to lift the restrictions on Brazilian travellers and welcomes the recent announcement that the way would soon be cleared for them to return without hindrance. However, as of this writing there has been no change in their status.
