Education Maintenance Allowance........ why?
Discussion
Why the hell do students from 'poor' backgrounds receive £10-£30 a week to go to college? Just watching on the BBC and those complaining seem to have enough money for fags, hair styling etc so why are they paid to go to college? Was it just another bribe from the last government to try and win votes (much like the laptop give away)?
550Hep said:
One of the many many bribes incentives that our wonderful previous administration dolled out in the hope of buying an electorate bettering our society that now we have folks who can count looking at the books realise need to go!
Yep, like the 'free laptops for kids' bribe, that my lazy sister 'bragged' about - telling us she gets everything 'for free' (and asking me to fix the laptop so she can use the internet for herself!)I have a friend who teaches at a sixth form. He says the sad thing is that for half the kids the cash is enough to make them come in and register for the morning before slacking off for the rest of the day. However for the other half it's a real lifeline that helps towards their transport costs.
The shame is that it can't be better targetted towards those who are actually trying to better themselves.
The shame is that it can't be better targetted towards those who are actually trying to better themselves.
Edited by theaxe on Monday 13th December 13:40
ts.Sticks. said:
PH seems odd to me. PHers complain about the feckless, not contributing to society etc etc but when a govt wants to spend some money on helping those who want to better them selves, PHers complain.
If it doesn't work properly, fix it, don't bin it.
Its not so much the fixing it its how they go about helping themselves by giving them cash direct rather than like what I got when I was needing to travel to high school (many years ago) a free bus pass... surely that instead of cash is better or a pass and meal vouchers on the proviso of attending with 80%+ records of going to class?If it doesn't work properly, fix it, don't bin it.
Giving someone a £700 laptop because they dont have internet access (when they sometimes do) and dont care about it for them to go off and sell said laptop in cash converters is not what I call helping people better themselves... its called taking the piss!!
It works on the assumption your parents will pay your way through uni. Not sure how ema's work, but its probably pretty tightfisted. When i went 2003 and paid £1100 or so a year in tuition, to get that for free you parent(s) had to have a combined income of below £13k IIRC, and to get a reduced rate below £26k. So you'd have to be from a pretty poor background, probably similar for EMAs
Why it should matter is beyond me. If your over 18 your'e an adult and who or what your parents are should matter frack all. I knew students from wealthy households whose parents paid nothing towards their costs and they had to get jobs.
Its a stupid infantile policy. Your parents financial standing should be irrelevant once youre over 18 IMO.
Why it should matter is beyond me. If your over 18 your'e an adult and who or what your parents are should matter frack all. I knew students from wealthy households whose parents paid nothing towards their costs and they had to get jobs.
Its a stupid infantile policy. Your parents financial standing should be irrelevant once youre over 18 IMO.
Sticks. said:
PH seems odd to me. PHers complain about the feckless, not contributing to society etc etc but when a govt wants to spend some money on helping those who want to better them selves, PHers complain.
If it doesn't work properly, fix it, don't bin it.
Oh I am all for fixing it and I think most of the "bin it" folks on here (myself included) would like nothing more than to see these kinds of schemes overhauled as opposed to simply binned. The most sensible options have always seemed to me to be those wrapped up in making any state subsidy voucher orientated and not just "cash" based. As while I am sure there are ways to abuse that lets face it there will always be ways to abuse any system it would surely be less so than just handing out cash!If it doesn't work properly, fix it, don't bin it.
This goes for benefits on all levels, food vouchers (not redeemable against alcohol and cigarettes etc) as well as for schemes like this travel vouchers not just money! There are any number of businesses in the UK from the major supermarkets to the travel firms who would literally snap the governments hand off to both help them set up such schemes and run them as ultimately they would I am sure see better revenues out of it.
So I would rather they got it right rather than binned it but I would also rather they binned it than let it stay broken!
Edited by 550Hep on Monday 13th December 13:56
Du1point8 said:
Sticks. said:
PH seems odd to me. PHers complain about the feckless, not contributing to society etc etc but when a govt wants to spend some money on helping those who want to better them selves, PHers complain.
If it doesn't work properly, fix it, don't bin it.
Its not so much the fixing it its how they go about helping themselves by giving them cash direct rather than like what I got when I was needing to travel to high school (many years ago) a free bus pass... surely that instead of cash is better or a pass and meal vouchers on the proviso of attending with 80%+ records of going to class?If it doesn't work properly, fix it, don't bin it.
Giving someone a £700 laptop because they dont have internet access (when they sometimes do) and dont care about it for them to go off and sell said laptop in cash converters is not what I call helping people better themselves... its called taking the piss!!
£10 - £30 to encourage people to stay in college when they might not? Could well be a long term saving compared to benefits claimed etc.
550Hep said:
Sticks. said:
PH seems odd to me. PHers complain about the feckless, not contributing to society etc etc but when a govt wants to spend some money on helping those who want to better them selves, PHers complain.
If it doesn't work properly, fix it, don't bin it.
Oh I am all for fixing it and I think most of the "bin it" folks on here (myself included) would like nothing more than to see these kinds of schemes overhauled as opposed to simply binned. The most sensible options have always seemed to me to be those wrapped up in making any state subsidy voucher orientated and not just "cash" based. As while I am sure there are ways to abuse that lets face it there will always be ways to abuse any system it would surely be less so than just handing out cash!If it doesn't work properly, fix it, don't bin it.
This goes for benefits on all levels, food vouchers (not redeemable against alcohol and cigarettes etc) as well as for schemes like this travel vouchers not just money! There are any number of businesses in the UK from the major supermarkets to the travel firms who would literally snap the governments hand off to both help them set up such schemes and run them as ultimately they would I am sure see better revenues out of it.
So I would rather they got it right rather than binned it but I would also rather they binned it than let it stay broken!
Edited by 550Hep on Monday 13th December 13:56
That's how I see it, a voucher system would ensure the money is used in the right place rather than on white lightning.
Sticks. said:
Du1point8 said:
Sticks. said:
PH seems odd to me. PHers complain about the feckless, not contributing to society etc etc but when a govt wants to spend some money on helping those who want to better them selves, PHers complain.
If it doesn't work properly, fix it, don't bin it.
Its not so much the fixing it its how they go about helping themselves by giving them cash direct rather than like what I got when I was needing to travel to high school (many years ago) a free bus pass... surely that instead of cash is better or a pass and meal vouchers on the proviso of attending with 80%+ records of going to class?If it doesn't work properly, fix it, don't bin it.
Giving someone a £700 laptop because they dont have internet access (when they sometimes do) and dont care about it for them to go off and sell said laptop in cash converters is not what I call helping people better themselves... its called taking the piss!!
£10 - £30 to encourage people to stay in college when they might not? Could well be a long term saving compared to benefits claimed etc.
UK is slipping down the ranksing at a rate of knots, I suspect its because the government (old one) was trying to get those that higher education dosent benefit into college and Uni, instead of doing the slave labour scheme (aka YTS) and getting them a trade they can use for a job... some of the people I know that are not interlectual enough to want to or even bother with HE but are amazing at their trade they learned on Apprentice and YTS schemes... But no... they are told they need to go and get the education and then a job will magically appear at the end of a tunnel.
My daughter has her college interviews this week, this is for going to college after finishing her GCSEs, and the course she wants is not available at the local college, so that means that she has to travel to one of two places, all by bus, and we were kind of hoping that her EMA would help with the weekly bus ticket, plus somehow I am also expected to find the money for her chef's whites and a set of knives. (plus whatever else she needs that they have failed to tell me about)
grumbledoak said:
Tsippy said:
That's how I see it, a voucher system would ensure the money is used in the right place rather than on white lightning.
No it wouldn't. They'd just not be worth face value when flogged for cash for white lightning.Edited by 550Hep on Monday 13th December 14:19
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