EMA (Education Maintenance Allowance)

[Tintinnabulate]

The British goverment are idiots. They pay people to go to College? Its ridiculous. People should feel privileged that they get education. Goverment shouldnt have to bribe them with money :\ In other countries where people have to pay, they realise how important Education is. When they make it free and start paying later, it gives students the wrong idea.

Paying out millions on benefits and crap like this and people wonder why this country is in this position now.

[GoldenMerc]

to be honest, everyone i know who gets ema spends it on booze, drugs what not. due to the fact their parents give them money aswel, i mean i hardly get anything from my parents i proberly get around the same as ema cadinates its such a crap system

[Robbie]

I can claim £30 and I am claiming £30 - however, I think the system is wrong and I'd be going to College even if I didn't get paid - but £30 is there for me on a plate, so I might as well take it.

[Black_Apalachi]

I can claim £30 and I am claiming £30 - however, I think the system is wrong and I'd be going to College even if I didn't get paid - but £30 is there for me on a plate, so I might as well take it.

I forgot about that actually - I only found out about EMA as I was going into sixth-form so yeah, it was just "free money for no reason" as far as I was concerned because I was staying at school anyway .

[ifuseekamy]

They should just give free bus passes and equipment to people "too poor" to afford it. Although I didn't know a single person who was in a position where they needed EMA so much as they wanted it. It's obviously enticement to get kids to go to college. Their parents will still be getting child benefits on top of it and plenty of people seem to do fine without EMA through school.

[Immenseman]

i hate it. simply because i'm not entitled to a penny. just because my parents earn a decent wage doesn't mean they give me any dolla!

[Niall!]

Im eighteen, why should my parents give me money? Im old enough. And if I was given ema I would carry on at college. Some people do 'sponge' off the goverment I don't know what kind of situation your family is in so I can't and won't comment on it.

I think 75% of EMA is used to buy drugs and alcohol. All the people I know blow there money on nights out.

Parents are supposed to put you through education.

They won't mind you sponging off them if they really love you.

[Robbie]

The thing is - we earn more than enough with just my mum working, Dad had an accident and is disabled and can't work (much) so he gets money such as DLA etc - but we still fall into the £30 category.

They need to completely rethink the EMA scheme as it's being abused - I don't know how they could do it but they need to make it much harder to get rather than just having household income categories.

*emailz gordon brown*

[Immenseman]

I can see why such a scheme was implemented but I know people who are entitled to EMA and their EMA payment was actually a deciding factor in their decision to go to college, it's stupid. I can't blame them - I blame the scheme in general. A few of my mates have it who don't really need it but they use it for relatively constructive things.

[NIKKEE]

EMA isn't a bribe for people to go to school, it's there because ages ago, kids would leave school at 16 so they could help with income towards their families, but now if they're staying on they can't do that so it's supposed to help towards maybe food or whatever, instead of drink and what not like every single person at my school who gets EMA spends it on.
I agree with the person who said that education should be a privilege and that you shouldn't pay people to go or they take it for granted.
I still don't think anyone should get it, and if families need more money then kids can go out and get a part-time job like the rest of us, I don't get any pocket money from my parents, so just because my parents make enough for me to not qualify doesn't mean I get anything, I'm still poor, if I want clothes I have to buy them myselves, the only things that are paid for is food and I suppose gifts. We don't go on expensive holidays because we still don't have enough, so I still have to go to school and work, yet theirs lazy kids who do nothing yet get £30 a week, and that's a ridiculous lesson to be taught.