Teachers and politicians united with thousands of students across the country on Monday to protest against the abolition of the Educational Maintenance Allowance. Peaceful lunchtime protests were held at more than a hundred colleges, with marches in Blackpool, Dudley, Bath and Hackney.
Although the Tories argue that most EMA recipients would still attend further education colleges if the allowance were scrapped, the Institute of Fiscal Studies said it had boosted attendance and attainment for thousands of children, making a positive contribution to the economy.
Matt Atkinson, principal of the City of Bath College, where nearly half the students receive EMA, accused the Government of hypocrisy. He said: “They have a policy of increasing participation in post-16 education, but making these cuts is going to dissuade young people not encourage them.”
Chris Morecroft, president of the Association of Colleges, expressed concern that although new applications for EMA would stop this month, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition had no alternative in place.
