Whilst I was never deemed "needy" enough for a £1080 yearly handout many of my friends were eligible for this generous biro and notepad fund.
I'm sure that 1 or 2% of recipients spend their EMA on educational related uses, but the vast majority (from my own experience) were less prudent, buying beer, the new FIFA xbox game, clubbing, cigarettes and generally enjoying themselves. I can't say I blame them, everyone enjoys a free meal, but this policy has been creating a generation of "entitled" youngsters who now view the state as their provider, rather than their own pair of hands.
I for one will be glad when this policy is scrapped, not only due to the fact that robbing hard working individuals to pay for a student’s night out is completely wrong, but that this scheme has completely failed to achieve its objective. Take a look at Dudley College of technology, which, according to Sky News, "has 2,500 students aged 16-18 and 80% of them receive EMA, the majority at the higher rate of £30 a week.". Now lets take a look at the A-Level results figures for this college (courtesy of the BBC):
Oh dear, well below the national average and with 80% of students on the scheme. For £30 a week I could buy a book from Amazon on any topic I am studying, or 30 packs of biros, thousands of pages of note paper, buy 8 day tickets on my local bus to get to my college/library, or even hire a private tutor for a couple of hours. Quite frankly there is no excuse for such poor results when 80% of your students are receiving £30 a week to spend on educational needs. Unless of course they are wasting it!
No comments:
Post a Comment