NUS agreed with the Committee that the reforms has been “rushed and ill thought through” and challenged the evidence used by Ministers to back up their decision, noting that the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) had demonstrated that by any important measure EMA was good value for money.
Toni Pearce, NUS Vice President (Further Education) said:
“Once again a thorough investigation finds that Michael Gove hurried the decision to scrap EMA and planned the implementation of its replacement poorly. By basing policy on flimsy, widely discredited evidence and bungling the handling of EMA's meagre replacement, Ministers have badly failed young people.”
“The single study used by Ministers in their determination to scrap EMA used a sample in which less than half of the respondents even received EMA and most were from white backgrounds, whereas EMA is most important to students from minority groups. The author of the Government cited report has distanced himself from their analysis and the majority of recommendations including from IFS, OECD and college staff shows the benefits of EMA far outweighed its costs.”
“The approach taken by ministers in the face of reasoned and widespread opposition has exposed young people to confusion and the potential loss of vital support at precisely the time when young people need education and training opportunities to be available. The upfront financial cost of keeping young people in education and training is insignificant in the face of the social, cultural and economic cost of abandoning a generation to unemployment and social stagnation."
Find out more about campaigns in FE here.