Why are 2610 students still waiting for their Education Maintenance Allowance? - Randerson

1.41.21pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 13th May 2009

EMA was designed to help poorer students but the backlog has hit many hard

Figures out today reveal that 2610 students in post-16 education are still waiting for their Education Maintenance Allowance when they should have started receiving their payments back in September, at the beginning of the 08/09 academic year.

Jenny Randerson, Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Education spokesperson hit out at the Education Minister for failing to ensure that thousands of young people remain in post -16 education in Wales.

Jenny Randerson said:

"Here we are eight months since the start of the academic year and over 2500 students are still not receiving their Education Maintenance Allowance.

"Two weeks ago, the Education Minister admitted that there were problems with the processing of these applications and that she had instructed officials from other departments to come and help process the loans. We are nearing the end of the academic year and students still are not receiving their payments.

"This scheme was designed to provide cash incentive to keep students from low-income families to remain in full-time education. It is essential that this backlog be dealt with as soon as possible to ensure that students remain in full time education.

"Wales needs a skilled workforce to boost the economy and this money could be vital in deciding if students remain in full-time education or not."

End

Notes:

In the 2008/09 academic year to date, 35,650 applications for EMA have been received. Of these, 32,350 have been approved and 690 rejected.

Stats can be found here: http://wales.gov.uk/topics/statistics/headlines/post16ed2009/hdw200905132/?lang=en