The scheme was designed to encourage teenagers in low-income households to stay on at school and even go on to university by helping with ancillary day-to-day costs that might otherwise put them off.
The OECD has been hailed by the Prime Minister as “a force for good” and cited by Chancellor George Osborne for supporting his deficit reduction programme although the body sharply undercut Mr Osborne’s growth forecasts for the British economy.
In its latest Going for Growth analysis of global education standards and attainment, it says the United Kingdom needs to focus on core literacy and numeracy skills and encourage participation in secondary education by reintroducing the EMA.
It also reccommends that the Government needs to work harder to ensure vocational educational programmes are properly attuned to labour market needs.
“Secondary school completion rates are low and youth unemployment is high,” says the 34-country strong OECD report.
It urges the UK to “increase further the resources for disadvantaged students and improve targeting mechanisms”.
Encouraging educational attainment is entirely consistent with reducing government debt says the OECD.
Shadow Education Secretary Andy Burnham called the OECD recommendation “another blow” to the coalition’s mistaken and flawed decision to scrap EMA.
“The number of independent voices calling for the EMA to be reinstated is growing by the day and it’s time that Michael Gove listened. The OECD warned the Government about scrapping the EMA. They have looked at Michael Gove’s inadequate replacement and called on him to go back to a scheme that worked”, said Mr Burnham.
Education Secretary Michael Gove says the original EMA was poorly targeted and wasteful and his bursary scheme will be better targeted at pupils in need.
