EMA (Education Maintenance Allowance)

[GommeInc]

Scrap the EMA and replace it with free bus passes and money sent to the institution for equipment. Cut out the middle terrace of spending it on crap when the whole point is for "Educational Maintenance". The only people who seem to be defending it are the people who have or like the idea of a dangled carrot infront of them :/ Besides, most colleges and sixth forms are free to all and the only thing that costs is the transports (thus, free bus passes/train passes). Resits that do cost could just be asked for through an Educational body where you can request assistance.

It stops the idiots claiming EMA who don't use it for its worth (and then flame anyone who dares to suggest to take the bottle away from the baby) and gives the people who cannot afford the transport costs to have a good chance of a decent education. Money doesn't make, or should make, anyone smarter :/ Not forgetting money isn't wasted of the selfish and spoilt.

[Pyroka]

Scrap the EMA and replace it with free bus passes and money sent to the institution for equipment. Cut out the middle terrace of spending it on crap when the whole point is for "Educational Maintenance". The only people who seem to be defending it are the people who have or like the idea of a dangled carrot infront of them :/ Besides, most colleges and sixth forms are free to all and the only thing that costs is the transports (thus, free bus passes/train passes). Resits that do cost could just be asked for through an Educational body where you can request assistance.

It stops the idiots claiming EMA who don't use it for its worth (and then flame anyone who dares to suggest to take the bottle away from the baby) and gives the people who cannot afford the transport costs to have a good chance of a decent education. Money doesn't make, or should make, anyone smarter :/ Not forgetting money isn't wasted of the selfish and spoilt.

Bang on. I never got EMA but a lad who feels that he didnt need to do any college work because his parents were stupidly rich, I mean 2 DB9's and a mansion plus his Dell XPS and Macbooks, well he got EMA because his dad was a lawyer and found a loophole. What a fair system EMA was... I could've seriously done with it, I was working whilst at College and I gotta admit I didnt have hardly any time to get work done on weekends because I was constantly working. I'd tell myself to do more work after a 9-6 shift but I was kidding myself, I was exhausted. Meanwhile, my friends who collect EMA do not work and they get to spend their time playing computer games and doing their coursework on weekends.

How very very... fair. It's like they expect people with kids who have over a certain income can almost definetely afford to spend however much is needed, some prices being extortionate. Last year, I had to pay for my own rail pass for a year out of my birthday money, that was fun. 300 quid. Year before my parents paid for it but because they couldn't afford it due to mortgages and bills, I had to pay them back.

EMA really doesn't look into the background, I mean both my parents work and they have massive bills to pay too, does this mean that they can spare money to do this? I think a fair thing to do would be to give each kid £100, £200 or £300 per school year, so that they can pay for such things as bus passes. Of course that would be based upon income... but its their fault if they spend it, the whole getting money on a drip per week is just such a bad idea. My mates claimed it and saved up for iPods and games. I had to pay my way through college.

Inevitably it's going to be the same with University too, with my mates all getting grants and me getting zilch. Yep I gotta say, the government have got the whole 'fair' thing mapped out pretty well.

[Coding]

i get ema but also parents money so my ema money gets saved and i get £20 child benefit every week aswell

LiViiN TH3 HiGhLiF3

[ifuseekamy]

Scrap the EMA and replace it with free bus passes and money sent to the institution for equipment. Cut out the middle terrace of spending it on crap when the whole point is for "Educational Maintenance". The only people who seem to be defending it are the people who have or like the idea of a dangled carrot infront of them :/ Besides, most colleges and sixth forms are free to all and the only thing that costs is the transports (thus, free bus passes/train passes). Resits that do cost could just be asked for through an Educational body where you can request assistance.

It stops the idiots claiming EMA who don't use it for its worth (and then flame anyone who dares to suggest to take the bottle away from the baby) and gives the people who cannot afford the transport costs to have a good chance of a decent education. Money doesn't make, or should make, anyone smarter :/ Not forgetting money isn't wasted of the selfish and spoilt.

I agree, they should provide whatever the student needs in terms of transport and equipment. That would be much easier than the EMA scheme which always faces backlogs and delays anyway.

[LipsLikeSugar]

Scrap the EMA and replace it with free bus passes and money sent to the institution for equipment. Cut out the middle terrace of spending it on crap when the whole point is for "Educational Maintenance". The only people who seem to be defending it are the people who have or like the idea of a dangled carrot infront of them :/ Besides, most colleges and sixth forms are free to all and the only thing that costs is the transports (thus, free bus passes/train passes). Resits that do cost could just be asked for through an Educational body where you can request assistance.

It stops the idiots claiming EMA who don't use it for its worth (and then flame anyone who dares to suggest to take the bottle away from the baby) and gives the people who cannot afford the transport costs to have a good chance of a decent education. Money doesn't make, or should make, anyone smarter :/ Not forgetting money isn't wasted of the selfish and spoilt.

Fab ideas ~ I totally agree

[GommeInc]

I agree, they should provide whatever the student needs in terms of transport and equipment. That would be much easier than the EMA scheme which always faces backlogs and delays anyway.

Indeed - a bus pass that lasts a whole term is more worthwhile than a belated sum of money, so it's more worthwhile. Especially when bus passes are in the process of being created quite quickly AND a bus pass is better and cheaper in the long run than having to spend x amount of money each day (as it would or should be intended with the weekly/monthly settlements) that you get with the current system.

[StefanWolves]

I think some of you people are totally missing the point, and to whoever said that most people spend it on crap, yes i WILL challenge you, cause my EMA won't be going on CRAP at all, because I NEED that money, and I am entitled to it, as I can't get money from anywhere else, I've already stated numerous times in this thread why, and so have many others, so I suggest you go read those again before making such RIDICULOUS and spoilt comments, dangled carrot? pfft, spoilt are we?

As the saying goes, don't fix something which is not broken.

Yes, I just took the bottle from the babies mouth.

[ifuseekamy]

I've also seen people who have separated parents and will say they live with the one who earns the least so they can claim EMA. Some even say they live with their grandparents so they can claim it. It's just a horribly flawed system created as an incentive to get kids into college so the government can boast about statistics. What exactly is that "bonus" they get at the end of term for? Surely the government could be pouring this money into more important things like healthcare or creating jobs, especially during the recession.

[Pyroka]

I think some of you people are totally missing the point, and to whoever said that most people spend it on crap, yes i WILL challenge you, cause my EMA won't be going on CRAP at all, because I NEED that money, and I am entitled to it, as I can't get money from anywhere else, I've already stated numerous times in this thread why, and so have many others, so I suggest you go read those again before making such RIDICULOUS and spoilt comments, dangled carrot? pfft, spoilt are we?

As the saying goes, don't fix something which is not broken.

Yes, I just took the bottle from the babies mouth.

Congratulations! You're the first person who *might not* spend their EMA on something completely pointless! +rep!

I bet that money really goes towards a wolverhampton season ticket LOL.

[StefanWolves]

No my mom and dad paid for it as birthday and christmas present.