Have Your Say on a possible replacement for EMA

shabby_chic2011

I can't help but think that EMA wasn't ever thought through properly. I do think EMA served a purpose but it is too general to just give people money without ensuring it's spent on the right things. A college near me seems to have worked out a very good way of helping those student who are spending money on essential travel for their education; they allow every pupil (no parental earning discrimination) to bring in their receipts from bus travel for a refund at the end of each week meaning nobody is ever more than a week of money out of pocket.

Surely EMA should never have been to pay for food, if a student no longer lives at home then they get money (benefits) to pay for this, and if they do then surely it's every parents responsibility to feed the child they chose to have OR teach the child some responsibility and encourage them to get a job to pay a few ££ for lunch a week.

When I was at college I received £30 of EMA a week which I used to cover my £25 a week bus ticket plus the occasional ticket with another company if X1s weren't running or were late. I don't think the bonuses have any relevance at all, hundreds of pounds for good behaviour? What has our society come to that we have to bribe people to be either interested in their own education (surely why they are attending college?) or even considerate and socially responsible...(For the record, I put mine aside to pay for my accommodation deposit at uni which they make you pay for weeks/months before your student loan comes in)

MARSHY

Why should they receive any money when they're receiving free education? If they need books etc, surely they can be issued with vouchers to get them. If they want money, why don't they get off the backsides and earn it.

ska_lover

In my city, if a student lives more than three miles away from their college, they get a free bus pass.

For the teenagers who live LESS than three miles away - it's really not too much to expect a fit and healthy teenager to bike or walk to college for the shorter journeys ratter than spending fortunes every month on busfares getting a couple of miles up the road! No wonder kids are obese.

Imo, i think EMA should be stopped, i really do. People are already getting benefits-if they are entitled to them - to pay for their kids bus fares etc - its really not fair to expect the tax payers to hand over an extra £30 per week to your household. Teens should do what they used to have to - get a part time job if they want money.

I think child benefit should be axed as well for people earning over a certain threshold plus the grant that they give to new born children - its just ridiculous - why should the tax payer be forced to hand over a nest egg to everyone who has a child? If you want your kids to have a savings account, start saving! Why should people who may not even WANT kids be forced to pay this?

I mean as a country, we managed perfectly fine, before commiting to giving away these freebies - we had enough qualified people to fill jobs, so it isnt really going to have a detrimental effect if ema goes, just that the parents will have to fork out for busfares, well sorry but you chose to have kids. These moneys would be better spent elsewhere. Kids who want to go to college will ALWAYS find a way- as they have done in the past.

The government have made thing far too silly these days with all this free money handed out. its all ''can I claim this, and am I entitled to that''. England is carrying too many passengers who are draining the economy dry and the government seems to encourage it.

poet123

Samuraiman89 wrote: »

I must have gone to college on another planet! I remember being utterly embarrassed claiming EMA, a sentiment shared by most students in my year, as evidenced by the sea of red faces in the 'EMA register queue' at my college. I also remember having abuse hurled at us simply because, it was assumed we were poor and second class citizens.

And I personally do not recall meeting anyone who found £3,0 incentive enough to attend every class at college and complete their coursework/ exams to a respectable standard (another criteria for EMA) AND tolerate the stigma of 'being poor'.

I work in quite leafy suburb but we do have many students who are in college because; they can't find job, don't want a job, their parents insist they attend, they don'tknow what they want to do. etc. etc. Those students can be disruptive and unmotivated and that impacts on every other student. Receipt of EMA is the norm now, so there is no stigma, and certainly no embarrassment factor.

Tripleeagle wrote: »

If they are absent, they simply need a note from their parents. You are allowed to be sick as long as it's reasonably justified.

You may get EMA if you are sick for one day at the discretion of the tutor, but any longer and EMA is not payable. If you are off sick there are no expenses associated with attending college, therefore EMA is not payable.

angi1234

My daughter presently gets £30 a week EMA when this stops we will struggle as we are on a low income . The money presently helps fund bus fares £10.50 a week, books , overalls, safety boots, books , stationary etc all which are needed for her course, I would like to know if all these will be free when full time education up to 18 will be compulsary.
The EMA should be replaced to needy families with a means tested grant, or free bus pass and book/equipment grant for all students. If my daughter gets nothing from September it will be difficult to carry on studying full time, she has tried to get a Saturday job but these are very few and far between as most employers want people to work during the week.

Shazonator

I think the students should recieve travel and food vouchers to use instead and that way they cannot be accused of using the money in the wrong way, they would have to show there student card to use them so they could not be sold or passed on to others, they do need some encouragement to go into further education, if they have to work part time to make up any other money they need then it is a way of learning how to manage there own finances and appreciate it more than it just being handed to them for free. If students are having to live away from home then they should be able to claim housing benefit and other types of benefit to help them be independant and become better educated. In other countries university is free not just college, we really are not encouraging great minds equally, it is fine if you come from a family who can afford for you to go into further education but if you are from a deprived background it can just be one big uphill struggle to get anywhere and now it is being made even harder for people who just weren't born into a priveleged life.

percymoneysaver

Just adding my opinion, for what it's worth, although I've said it before in previous posts.

There is nothing wrong with the theory behind EMA. Those who struggle to pay the expenses related to going to college deserve every penny. In my college though, a quarter of the students receive EMA this year. About half of those are in Year 13, and about half of those RUN THEIR OWN CAR. Please can someone tell me how a family that is so hard up that they need £30 a week in order for their child to go to college has the money to afford a car, petrol and insurance for a 17 year old newly qualified driver??????? Because my partner and I both work full time with decently paying jobs that take us over the EMA threshold, and we could not afford to insure our 17 year old on his own car.

By all means give money to the students who need it. By all means use a targeted system to buy books, bus passes, food etc. I am completely in favour of this and have seen many students who deserve everything we can give them as they have overcome major hardship in order to succeed with their A levels. But please don't tell me that if you can afford to insure a teenager on their own car - let alone cover the running costs - that you are in need of a handout to send them to college.

(by the way, I realise that not everyone lives in an urban setting with good transport, and that some people need cars to get anywhere, no matter how much they cost. But that's not the case in my college, or in any city or town with decent buses/trains.)

pinkaholic88

i dont see why some children should be paid for staying in education and not others, the person is able to get a job at 16 so it shouldn't be based on their parents earnings. its like splitting the school in half and sayin here you have £30 p/w and then to the other half saying your not worthy of it, you can suffer.

they should be judged not their parents.

smunchkinp

Roy_Pemberton wrote: »

Can anybody tell us with accuracy when the first case of post-16's having to continue to 18 compulsorily will actually be?

Current years 10 and 11 will leave at 16,
Current years 8 and 9 will leave at 17
Everyone below this will stay on till 18

I said this in earlier post but it kinda got lost:

As for replacement to ema, Any child that qualifies for a payment, should be able to submit receipts for bus fares and equipment needed for college course to be re-imbursed by the college fund, which of course will have to be bolstered by government funding.


This brings it more in line with a business (claiming expenses) so teaches them more life skills.

devildog

Skalover-is the bus pass for all students that live over 3 miles away or just for those upto and including year 11s? Where we are it is free upto this age but post 16 the contribution demanded is £200 per year and they are looking to increase it to £400 per year. They are also looking to bring in the fact that this will be to the 'closest' further(or is it called higher?) education establishment regardless of whether that school/college offers the course that the student wishes to follow.