Save the Educational Maintenance Allowance

This blog and the Rochester & Strood Labour Party is backing the Save the EMA campaign which is opposing the Coalition government proposal to scrap the allowance to the poorest students.

It is challenging local Conservative MPs; Tracey Crouch, Mark Reckless and Rehman Chisthi to oppose any measure which would cut a key allowance to the most vulnerable students. The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is a means-tested allowance of between £10 and £30, paid to 16- to 19-year-olds who stay on in education.

Rolled out nationally in September 2004, EMA is intended to help with the cost of books, travel, equipment or anything useful to the continuation of learning. It’s paid straight into the pupil’s bank account, not their parents or their college, giving them independence and forcing them to take charge of a small weekly budget. The payments are under the condition that they attend classes regularly. If the pupil works hard or achieves good grades, there is the opportunity to earn bonuses.

EMA is available to 16-19 year olds who come from low income families and whose household’s net income is below £30,000 pa. There is an additional grant for those students from families household income is up to and below £20,000 pa. EMA currently exists all across the UK although the administering of it is devolved to the regional parliaments of Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The allowance is not only a financial life-line for poorer students - in terms of purchasing stationary and academic textbooks. It is also a hook with which to keep pupils in attendance over the duration of their academic course.

The worrying fact coming out of this Coalition government is that the Tories do not believe in educational opportunity for all. They are targeting the poorest students in scrapping the Educational Maintenance Allowance and are raising tuition fees to an eye-watering £9,000 per year. This could leave the average student (at both a grammar, private, college or comprehensive) with a massive debt burden on entering the unstable world of work. The Tories are gerrymandering funding from state funded schools into the pet 'free schools' which is privatisation in all but name. Youth services across Medway have been cut.

Medway Labour MPs made it a cornerstone of there legacy to invest in education for our young people.

Under the last Labour government we saw significant investment in improved primary schools, new academies and several university campuses across the towns. We embedded educational attainment so that all our people could fulfil their potential as human beings. It is time for the Tories to put education first, for the future of Medway