Save EMA

Photo: EMA advert by LSC

At the age of sixteen and coming to the end of my time at high school I was left with two options; apply to the grammar school which initially rejected me or apply to sixth form colleges in Manchester town centre. I went for the latter choice, although the cost of travelling this distance was something I could not have afforded if I was not earning, and something my mother did not have the funds for.

Thankfully I was lucky enough to receive EMA (Education Maintenance Allowance), and the £30 a week really did make the difference and helped to cover the cost of transport, books and equipment. Without this money I do not think I would be where I was today, and my education may have had to come to a full stop after high school.

It was revealed earlier this week that the coalition government intends to remove the EMA scheme by Christmas 2010, due to an overspending on education. Sixth forms and colleges have not even bothered to send EMA applications out to this years incomers, so certain that the scheme will come to an end.

Without EMA school leavers from the poorest of backgrounds will be discouraged to apply to sixth forms and colleges if they do not have financial backing, which leads to a somewhat unfair education system.

And with part time jobs hard to come by alongside the cuts to college bursaries, those who need EMA will be eliminated from the option of being able to continue their studies.

If the government cannot afford to continue the EMA payments, they should plan other ways to enable those from poor backgrounds to enter higher education. Extending scholarships, creating schemes to encourage poor students or even free school bus services so that students who do not live near a sixth form or a college can make the journey.

Otherwise, we will live in an unfair society with a very unfair further education system.

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Too Much Too Young

Last week saw the beginning of the summer holidays for the UK's youngsters as the schools finished for the summer. And for some children it is somewhat of a rites-of-passage ceremony, particularly for those who are in their final year of schooling.

In my cousin's year 6 class at a primary in southern Manchester, some of the parents wanted to celebrate their bright young things transition from primary to secondary school. A selection of the parents organised stretch limousines and hummers to pick up their daughters, as well as sons, outside the school gates on their last day of primary school and take them onto laser quest or for a meal at a restaurant in town. One of the vehicles parked up outside the classrooms included a bright pink playboy hummer.

And this doesn't just seem to be just an occurrence at this one quasi middle class primary school in Manchester. Through further research and speaking to other parents it appears to be a ritual eleven year old tweenagers expect and demand. But what happens when they are finishing secondary school, college and university? Demand a red carpet and arrival by helicopter?

The phenomena of parents with more money then sense appears to have been picked up on recently by the media, coinciding with BBC 3's adult season this month. One television programme that featured was My Child's Big Fat Birthday Party which saw mums and dads shedding thousands of pounds to celebrate their children's birthday parties. The collective age of the children in the programme was around ten.

A scene from the documentary included a group of mothers after a yoga class discussing the trend of the parties, with one lady rightly pointing out that giving kids everything on a silver platter when they are so young will cause a generation with no drive.

I remember taking up part time jobs from the age of sixteen so I could afford to save up and buy an I-pod, or have money to go out at the weekend. Now I've heard of children as young as nine years old who have their own I-phones and laptops. If children are given everything they want and more, what are they going to want to work for and have the self satisfaction of earning it? And what are they going to look forward to when they are older?

I wonder what rate pocket money is going for these days.