Have Your Say on a possible replacement for EMA

Samuraiman89

As a former recipient of EMA I have to say I am very disappointed that the scheme is being scrapped. Yes there was £30 being made available to students weekly, but from my own experiences only a minority of students chose to claim it. The reason for this was that there were strict conditions attached to claiming it, you had to attend all classes and could not be late to lessons more than twice a week. Good attendance and good educational performance resulted in bonus rewards.

Therefore those that ‘needed’ EMA adhered to all conditions and therefore should be entitled to the payment. EMA might not have been necessary in the past, but with the rising costs in travel and food it became a necessity.

I worked weekends and weekdays during college, switching between temp and permanent jobs, and this allowed me to splash out on extravagances (if you can even call it that), such as clothes and superior textbooks.
It was incredibly difficult for me to find a job (and this was before the recession and indeed Cameron’s ‘Big Society a.k.a let’s make everyone work for free initiative’), and I fully acknowledge that most students will not be able to find jobs through no fault of their own.

The £30 enabled me to have a constant source of income for travel and food expenses when I was not able to find work, and when I was working, I was able to use that money to make contributions towards groceries for the house. Ultimately the £30 might seem like a lot to some of you, but if you factor in travel costs of about £10-15 and food costs of about £15, there isn’t a lot left over for anything else.

And correct me if I’m wrong, but when I joined the scheme in the pilot year, EMA was marketed as a ‘rewards scheme’ for staying in education and as far I’m concerned most of us students never used the money to ‘reward ourselves’, it was used towards the costs of things that were essential. And finally most people that claimed EMA will understand what I mean when I say that the whole process of getting your EMA register signed and queuing up for hours to rectify errors was very demoralising and given the choice many students would not have claimed if they didn’t need to.

1jeannie

If you are a higher wage earner good on you, lucky you, but some of us are not so lucky and would really like to see our children aspire to a better position in life than we have. And EMA help was a great way to do this....:T

NigeWick

I work in a school. I dislike EMA. I didn't get it as a youngster and do not see why it should be handed out now. I understand that some people may need help with the bills but EMA is not the way to do it because many students do not use it for the intended purpose.

I take a sandwich and fruit to school, students can as well. Water will do them more good than the fizzy drinks that they pour down their throats. I walk a mile and a half to school, a high proportion of students could too. The senior ones who can not afford but require public transport could be issued bus/train passes if necessary. Course books could be bought by universities/colleges/schools and loaned to senior students just as they are to the junior ones.

Do away with EMA and find something that will target necessities rather than letting students spend it on luxuries.

Saslou

My son is in his final year of secondary school and recently had his first interview at College. I am going to have to find £200 for course material as well as bus fares and excursions etc.

I am a single mother (recently divorced), waiting for the CSA to get payments from the father, ohhh, for the last 8 years and although i work full time, i am very grateful for the tax credits (when i'm not getting overpaid). My rent is high and have started looking for a smaller property to no avail. Due to a low income last year, my tax credits are high now but in April will drop significantly. I am worrying about the cost of living so the added worry of how i'm going to pay towards my sons education is going to cause a few sleepless nights, i am sure.

The EMA would of been helpful for my son but i've already told him to find a part time job. My job though is to help people to get into employment, i see people daily who desperately want to work but are struggling to even secure an interview.

What chance does my son stand when in competition with so many others who have significantly more experience .. Only good point is min wage for a 16 year old, lol.

We shall see *sigh* but what i would like to see is help with busfare, materials etc where the money can be spent on whats important and not partying, clothes and top up.

julianhodgearepants

gabbialice wrote: »

It's been interesting reading this. I am a tutor in FE and I see both sides but I would honestly say that it's 'abused' in over 90% of cases. In my own opinion, EMA was the worst thing to happen in Further Education. Someone said earlier that if it brought students in then it was a success, but at what price? Foul-mouthed, abusive, racist, sexist young people making the lives of others (students and staff) a misery. They are quite open about why they are at college (for the EMA) and I have also known instances (as in a previous post) where the money is taken by a parent as soon as it's paid out for 'keep'. I have also been on the receiving end of abuse from parents and their children when EMA has been withheld.

I have long been an advocate of using the student's ID card as a sort of 'credit card' whereby it can be topped up and used to buy a bus pass or pay for printing or photocopying (not always available at home) or buy lunch, all within the college itself. What it will not pay for then is a bottle of vodka or some 'green' or a night out.

The qualifying criteria is also a bit of a joke as pointed out here by a student -

EMA is odd. My mate's dad is a millionaire but he still gets EMA because he lives with his mum.

By the way, nobody has mentioned the bonuses of £100 paid out in January and July.
Sorry if this has been a bit long, it's a subject very close to my (and my colleagues) heart.

It's time we STOPPED encouraging these kids to stay on at school with a view to enrolling on some useless degree course - media studies anyone? Far better to get out in to the big wide world of work and learn a trade.

janieg

Please please could children at school get free bus passes to use in school time, it costs my daughter £3.45 single to go 9 miles to school, she has a Saturday job that pays £4.77/ hour we are really going to feel the loss of EMA

cazar

My son attends a college 30 miles from home.
His bus pass is £700 a year.
On top of that he has to pay £100 a year minimum "enrichment fund" for study trips for his course.
We also had to buy safety gear - boots, gloves etc as it is a practical course in Theatre Tech.
On "performance" weeks he leaves home at 6am and doesn't finish at college until about 9.30pm. There are no buses at that time of night and so we have a daily 60 mile round trip to get him home.

I work part-time, and my son has no chance of getting work because of the hours he travels to and from college. On a normal day he won't get home until gone 6.30pm.

To say we will struggle if there is no replacement for EMA is an understatement.

If we could get funding for his bus pass, enrichment and safety costs, all of which are directly incurred because of his studies, then I would be happy. Anything else would be standard if he attended a local college/sixth form and I accept these as everyday expenses.

To have received EMA and started the course with the financial support was great. If we'd known it could be withdrawn like this we would've had to consider whether he could do the course in the first place. Thankfully we will only have to manage one year if there is no replacement, but I will have to go into debt to meet the costs of the course.

workingmums

Having read all the numerous post its makes me laugh at the society we live in. My husband and I decided to have our two children, and we managed that with no help from the government! They are our responsibility and I know times are hard (as they are for us) but why do some people in this country expect hand outs all the time!!! Those on low incomes like previously stated will still get financial help whilst children are in education so why 'expect' more?. It is up to us as parents to look after our children that we decided to have and not the government. We should be teaching are children that you get further in life by working hard - not by getting handouts and thinking its our right to be given money! We should take responsibility of our own children and stop moaning that we're not being given enough money - if you want something, work for it - dont expect it to be given.
Parents in America save up from when their children are born for a college fund - maybe we should start doing the same instead of expecting someone else to!

poet123

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

There are no "right reasons"! If it's brought students into college then the scheme has been a success.

It depends on how you define success;) In many cases it has been at the expense of those in the class who want to learn.

gabbialice wrote: »

It's been interesting reading this. I am a tutor in FE and I see both sides but I would honestly say that it's 'abused' in over 90% of cases. In my own opinion, EMA was the worst thing to happen in Further Education. Someone said earlier that if it brought students in then it was a success, but at what price? Foul-mouthed, abusive, racist, sexist young people making the lives of others (students and staff) a misery. They are quite open about why they are at college (for the EMA) and I have also known instances (as in a previous post) where the money is taken by a parent as soon as it's paid out for 'keep'. I have also been on the receiving end of abuse from parents and their children when EMA has been withheld.

I have long been an advocate of using the student's ID card as a sort of 'credit card' whereby it can be topped up and used to buy a bus pass or pay for printing or photocopying (not always available at home) or buy lunch, all within the college itself. What it will not pay for then is a bottle of vodka or some 'green' or a night out.

The qualifying criteria is also a bit of a joke as pointed out here by a student -

EMA is odd. My mate's dad is a millionaire but he still gets EMA because he lives with his mum.

By the way, nobody has mentioned the bonuses of £100 paid out in January and July.
Sorry if this has been a bit long, it's a subject very close to my (and my colleagues) heart.

The above echoes my experience as a tutor. :T

Oldernotwiser

motoko wrote: »

It would also help a lot if there was more money available to cover fees at level 2 / 3. Currently, you can get fees covered for some level 2 qualifications, but not all, for example GCSEs are excluded, even though many later qualifications build on the knowledge obtained during GCSEs. Also, fees for level 3 qualifications are only covered up to the age of 25, I think this should be extended to include people of any age, or if this is not possible, then loans could be made available (similar to the student loans for higher education) to cover these costs.

GCSEs are certainly not excluded from the level 2 entitlement; however, you have to be doing a full level 2 course which is 5 GCSEs.