EMA: good or bad? POLL

The point of EMA was to combat material deprivation and give working class students a fair chance in secondary education. Being means tested was a way of it being given to students that needed it the most. Some use it properly, others do not. However it is not up to anyone else what the student spends it on. EMA has unarguably convinced more students to go on to secondary education and surely we must all agree that is a good thing?

There was a thread up the other day (posted from the Guardian) suggesting that the loss of EMA would stop a lot of students going on to secondary education (cannot remember the exact figure). This means that many potential students are going to avoid secondary education and go straight into work (or on job seekers) rather than become more educated. It could be suggested then, that scrapping EMA is purely for the benefit of the middle and upper classes. It stops working class students (I stress, SOME working class students) from going on to secondary education and therefore maintains class inequalities.

The argument that people feel they "shouldn't have to pay for students EMA" is irrelevant. Your taxes may go towards EMA but if it didn't go towards it, the government would only put that money towards some other scheme. Is it not better to support working class students to reach their potential, rather than have your money going into some other government plan?

The argument that scrapping EMA is for the good of the economy is a valid one. Yes it frees up a vast sum of money, but isn't having a skilled workforce, reproduced yearly, more important? Surely skilled workers are needed so that when the economy recovers and companies begin to branch out again, skilled workers will be needed to fill these vacancies. Scrapping EMA is all well and good in the short term but, in the long term, it MAY effect the lives of many future generations of working class students.

I am working class and this year we are struggling and I even more so because I don't get EMA.

The Tories are correct - they should scrap the EMA system NOW, 99.99% of the students at my school spent it on clothes, drugs and drink - how do i know this? Well they would post facebook updates like, 'Dam EMA - hurry up i wanna go out this weekend' and 'EMA bonus = shopping day'

Scrap the EMA system now!

anfield, they're gonna make it so you have to be at sixth form or some kind of other college until you're at least 18, and if you have to be there, then they won't have to give EMA out of JSA for udner 18s, which IMo they shouldn't anyway.

I only know people from my school who get it and they all happen to have blackberries or other expensive phones. The rest spend it on shopping and driving lessons, so not really an educational maintenance allowance. Although, I agree that some people do need it, especially in London where travel costs a lot. The system was not efficient, only a very small minority needed it and used it correctly.

Job seekers allowance, for people not in education or work.