A blight on education

Published: 17 December, 2010

• ALTHOUGH the focus has been on the huge protests against the massive increase in student fees proposed by the government, equally important is the Conservative-Liberal Democrat plan to cut the £30 a week Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) to 16-18 year olds. 

The EMA cut will mean that fewer young people from poorer backgrounds will get the chance to further their education. According to figures we have obtained from the Young People’s Learning Agency, 1,283 young people in Westminster currently receive an EMA, including 226 young people at Quintin Kynaston School, 123 at St Marylebone School, 112 at Grey Coat School, 101 at Westminster City School and 97 at Pimlico Academy.

EMA comes in weekly payments of £10, £20 or £30. Students only get the money if they regularly attend and work hard on their course. The amount received is calculated by looking at the family household income. A student from a family whose household income is less than £20,817 a year would receive £30 a week.

The EMA will close to new applicants in England from January. Students have been told, “If you currently get EMA you will continue to receive it for the rest of this academic year, but you will not receive it next academic year.”

Getting into the sixth form or college and achieving good A-levels is the route to a better job and a better future for many young people from poorer backgrounds. 

Now, because of the foolish government cuts, the lives of many local young people will be blighted.

CLLR PAUL DIMOLDENBERG
Leader of the Labour Group