Ema

lostinrates

Puddleglum wrote: »

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.

there might not be financial incentive, but what about the incentive of acheivment, grades being better for cv, keeping up with peers, intellectual endeavour, attendance report for CV/future employers, the pleasure of learning in your class....

I'm all for enabling people to persue education and training appropriate to needs and capability...but if they don't desire that training then how well is it going to stick?

Graham_Devon

Biggest problem with EMA was that it was an introduction to the benefits system.

It showed you could get something for nothing and instilled the "its my right" before they even left school.

Many of those in receipt state that they cannot get a part time job, as they need to study. God knows what we all did. I had a paper round before school 6 days a week and a night job in a restaurant 3-4 nights a week. Still managed to go to school and study.

SingleSue

EMA has gone down to £20 a week for those who received it last year and at my son's 6th form, it is linked to attendance, they don't attend, they don't get it.

Eldest uses it to pay for course books and equipment, travel and trips.

Eldest also has a part time job which he uses for the extras he may need including the bigger items needed for his courses and which I cannot afford to buy completely on my own.

nomoreboomandbust

My daughter tells me that there are students who receive it who live in million pound homes but who get the full whack because their parents are pensioners.

Oldernotwiser

nomoreboomandbust wrote: »

My daughter tells me that there are students who receive it who live in million pound homes but who get the full whack because their parents are pensioners.

No means tested benefits are affected by the property the claimant lives in.

shegirl

Mrs_Optimist wrote: »

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.

I think it's used as an incentive to keep teens in education and training rather than having them bumming around or living off JSA while trying to get a job and gaining no skills in the process.

It's also only paid if you attend regularly and says you can spend it as you wish.

The way I see it is that it gives these teens a little bit of money so they have something coming in and can still go into further education and training full time,part time,whatever. I'd say that's much better than having many not doing so because they would have no money and then end up living off benefits themselves while trying to find a job (which,lets face it,isn't the easiest thing for a teen with no experience to get these days!)

silvercar

AFAIK, EMA has been withdraws for new students. Existing students in their second year of A levels may be getting it, but that is all. New students are meant to be getting some help from colleges, but that is dependent on the individual college schemes.

tanith

At my grandaughters college their EMA was docked if they missed a day if they weren't signed in and seen in class the EMA was stopped for that day and they were very strict about it... my grandaughter used hers for fairs and lunches books and other and equipment .

IronWolf

As someone who received EMA, I think it’s just a waste of money and could be much better targeted. I’m from a very poor family, and got the full £30 of EMA over 2 years, which amounted to over £2k in total. I never spent it, I had a part time job for a few hours a week, all I had to pay for was the bus, or I could walk 40 minutes instead which I usually did. I never bought a book, even in Uni. I would take a packed lunch to school which cost a fraction of the price of buying it every day.

Loopgames

Where did it come from?

"Education, Education, Education" - Tony Blair.

He focused on quantity as more important than the quality of students. Targetting 50% of students to enter uni even if they weren't academically inclined.