Support for 'students who need it most' looks set to be axed

STUDENTS have been warned that weekly payments for staying on in education could be scrapped at Christmas because of a £4.5m government overspend.

The Scottish Government announced that the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA), which gives young people up to 30 a week to stay at school or go to college, will be under review in December.

And now Edinburgh Council has told students starting in January it will not send them application forms as the scheme may not exist then.

Critics described cutting the benefit as "risking" the futures of young people and warned that any cut would affect the poorest in society.

The Scottish Government confirmed it had put 4.5m extra into the scheme to fulfil huge demand caused by an influx of new students last year. That was attributed to a lack of school-leaver jobs in the economic downturn.

The letter sent to students by Edinburgh City Council says: "The Scottish Government has announced that the EMA budget was overspent by 4.5m in 2009-10, and therefore some significant changes will be made to the programme this year.

"All awards will only be guaranteed until December 2010; thereafter a review of the programme will be carried out."

It adds: "As you are not entitled to an EMA until January 2011, we have decided not to send you an application form until the Scottish Government have carried out their review."

Claire Baker, Labour's further and higher education spokeswoman, said: "The SNP are risking the educational attainment of the young people that we need to help the most."

She warned that many students from low-income backgrounds would not stay in education without knowing they had financial assistance for the whole year.

She added: "EMAs are there to help keep young people from the most impoverished families in Scotland in education and get the chances they need to break the cycle of poverty. A generation of young people in Scotland want opportunities and all the SNP seem to be creating are obstacles and excuses."

Liam Burns, president of the National Union of Students in Scotland, said cutting the scheme was "unacceptable". He said: "Only the very poorest students are able to receive EMAs. For these students, EMAs are not an incentive to study, they are part-and-parcel of the support that makes education affordable. The effect that eliminating this funding would have on students, when college bursaries are being cut and with part-time jobs hard to find, would be devastating."

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "Due in part to the economic downturn there were higher than usual numbers of young people staying on at school and going to college last year. Many of those young people who unexpectedly stayed on in education were eligible for an EMA award.

"Every young person who applied and was eligible for and EMA award received the support."

A spokesman Edinburgh council said: "Because the EMA is only guaranteed until December, we have informed current and possible future applicants that we are suspending our applications process after the current round.

"We will re-assess the situation when the Scottish Government completes its review."