Teachers applaud teenager’s EMA defence

Speaking at the National Union of Teachers annual conference 15-year-old Joe Cotton said it was wrong for politicians to regard EMA as a “luxury.”

Joe, who attends Calder High School in Mytholmroyd, near Halifax, said the Government had a duty to ensure all teenagers had the opportunity to stay in education after they turned 16.

Under EMA teenagers aged between 16 and 19 from households earning less than £30,800 a year received between £10 and £30 a week.

However this has been scrapped by the coalition in favour of a bursary fund for “vulnerable” students which will be worth less than a third of the money paid out through the EMA.

Joe said: “Like many other young people, recent events have made me really aware of the effects that political decisions can have on my life.

“At the moment, education as we know it is under threat. Despite pledges and promises, tuition fees are trebling and vital schemes like SureStart and the EMA are being axed. I’d like to stress how important it is that EMA at least is protected.”

Joe told teachers at the conference in Harrogate that leading economists had urged the Government to reinstate the EMA and the Institute for Fiscal Studies has said that the cost of the grant is offset by the benefits.

The 15-year-old added: “Yet the Government is scrapping it, and setting up a replacement scheme which will cut the money available by £400m.

“They claim that it will be better targeted. Well, I don’t know how nifty Michael Gove thinks he can be with a loaf and some fishes, or even a bus pass and some textbooks, but he’d need nothing short of a miracle to replicate the benefits of EMA with that budget.”

Joe earned a standing ovation as he hit out at the Government’s plans.

He added: “I believe that if even one student is unable to continue education based on their family’s income and not their ability, then the Government has failed in its responsibility to uphold basic rights to education.”

Calderdale NUT’s branch secretary Sue McMahon said: “Joe’s views reflect those of many young people whose lives will be made significantly more difficult as a result of the cuts.”