Ema

Mrs_Optimist

I have to confess, having two children still at school I don't know much about this particular grant which I think the coalition are stopping. But as I understand it, college students get £30? per week for attending college? I heard one student stating on the radio this week, to argue her objection to an MP about the proposed stopping of this grant, that she uses her grant to "buy my lunch in the week" - !!!!!!:mad:

Speaking to a colleague at work who has an 18 year old nephew who somtimes does, sometimes doesn't go to college - depending on how hungover he is, I asked her whether he received this EMA - "oh yes but he spends it on Fosters, fags and XBOX games" (I swear to you I am not making this up). Surely this is not what it is intended for?

Now DH was made redundant a few months ago and receives Contribution based JSA of £67.50 per week. Thank god I work, otherwise we would not be able to manage on JSA to run a home, pay a mortgage, feed & clothe two childen etc, but I have to ask the question, why on earth do students get £30 for going to college when my DH is expected to survive on marginally more than that after working and paying tax and NI? Is there a reason why this EMA is paid in cash rather than, say, Book vouchers or bus passes to assist poorer students in getting to and from college or buy books they need for their course?

How long has this EMA been in place? I don't remember agreeing to my taxes being used to fund the lifestyles of students who are too damn lazy to get a part time job (as I had to do back in the day)

Complete lunacy, I hope the coalition DO stop it, and redirect the money to pensioners struggling to keep warm this Winter.

gailey_2

Think its been in place for a few years now.

eligibility means tested by parents income.

I remember working part time whilst in 6th form college.

The lea covered my bus pass thats it more than fair.

agree with you book vouchers, travel passes be more appropriate than cash.Maybe free school dinners until aged 18. im sure all this be cheaper than giving them cash.

they are scrapping it but replacing with something different and less people eligible.

dont think its £30 a week though sounds very high.

Going4TheDream

EMA is now closed and there is a new bursary

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/14To19/MoneyToLearn/16to19bursary/index.htm

gailey_2

just googled and blimey you right

says northern ireland so same as uk

up to £60 fornightly for incomes under £33,000-seems high if average salary £25k.

http://www.delni.gov.uk/index/further-and-higher-education/ema-educational-maintenance-allowance.htm

but first few results of search engine /direct gov says no cash ema from jan
students have to apply directly to college for hardship bursury bit like they do with higher education.

but does aapear its probably cost us a lot over the years with that policy.

Mrs_Optimist

I had never heard of it until this week - but the figure of £30 per week was quoted by both the girl on the radio and my colleague about what her nephew gets "paid" (I use that term very loosely).

I do think that with low income families the kids should not be prevented from entering into further education because of lack of funds (leaving Uni aside because that is a whole different debate) but to just hand over cash every week, with no idea what it is being spent on is, frankly, ridiculous. Not many kids that age are going to use it for the nature it was intended.

And to think of pensioners and the disabled too frightened to put their heating on because of lack of funds - words just fail me.

Mrs_Optimist

Yet another reason why this Country is in the skits.....


So Work, pay tax and NI,- £67.50 per week to run a home and raise 2 children (thats it, you only get other benefits if you haven't worked for 6 months prior to signing on)
Be a College Student and get £30 per week to p##s up the wall, smoke and waste on shop bought sandwiches and XBox games.....

Sorry I am really in a bad mood tonight!

Generali

If you are going to pay kids to go to school, crazy IMO, then payments should be linked to 2 things:

-Attendance
-Achievement

If you don't do those 2 things, what exactly is society getting for the tax that is being spent on their behalf? If you can't be bothered to turn up then I can't be bothered to pay you. If you can't pass the course then perhaps college isn't for you.

michaels

Bribing them 30 quid to 'go to college' is cheaper than having them on the dole and some of them might have grown up enough by 16 to study and learn soem employable skills.

Of course those earning just over the threshold are very unlikely to have spare funds to give their kids an equvalent amount so these are the ones who will do the part time jobs and develop a work ethic.

Mrs_Optimist

I do see your point michaels, but I am still outraged that tax money is given to kids, to "occasionally" turn up for college, and that money is spent seemingly on items unrelated to the course they are on. Surely giving travel/book vouchers would have been more productive than handing over cold hard cash? Then if they wanted to "spends" to wasted on alcohol etc they could geet a part time job, like students had to do before EMA was introduced? I still cannot believe that I didn't know about this grant!

Puddleglum

There's a problem with linking ema with attendance illustrated by the following tale (which I may have told before, so please excuse).

A couple of years ago I happened to glance out of the window over towards the gym and there, on a treadmill was a student who should have been in my class at that time. Attendance for that student was normally pretty good, but having been genuinely ill at the start of the week, there was no longer any financial incentive to show up for the rest of it.

IMHO we need to come up with a more creative solution which embues students with a love of learning rather than a love of money.

Oldernotwiser

Mrs_Optimist wrote: »

Yet another reason why this Country is in the skits.....


So Work, pay tax and NI,- £67.50 per week to run a home and raise 2 children (thats it, you only get other benefits if you haven't worked for 6 months prior to signing on)
Be a College Student and get £30 per week to p##s up the wall, smoke and waste on shop bought sandwiches and XBox games.....

Sorry I am really in a bad mood tonight!

I don't know where you get your ideas from but a family with 2 children would be receiving large sums in CB, CTC, HB/LHA and CTB, regardless of whether they'd worked or not.