Pages: 1 2  Next -- Posted by ferakin at 7:31 am on Sep. 21, 2008 In the UK college (16-18) students can obtain a grant of £30 a week to go towards their travel to college and their educational supplies if their family income falls within a certain bracket (which is under about £30,000 a year or something). Firstly, many students are committing benefit fraud by claiming to live with their poorer parent (thus being eligible for the grant) but actually living with the wealthier one. This is hard to prove, but wrong. But my big issue is with the £100 bonuses that these students can claim for turning up to class. Yes, they need the EMA grants to fund their education. But if £30 a week is what they're getting then it's obviously deemed to be enough for 99.9% of students needs. Why, then, do these students get a £100 bonus 4 times a year, simply for attending class. They don't even have to be doing all that well, just have to be there. When I was at college last year I didn't get any bonuses even though I too attended class every day, and then did more than most of these EMA students by actually doing really well in class. Where is my 'you-did-well' bonus!?? The bonus scheme is incredibly unfair and in my eyes is attempted bribery. Grr. What do you think? x -- Posted by irish07 at 7:33 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Wow the full grant here is 745 euro a month -- Posted by Dannay at 7:33 am on Sep. 21, 2008 GOOD! i think EMA is so unfair.. none of us should get it, or all of us should get it simple as -- Posted by MrScottish at 7:33 am on Sep. 21, 2008 please stop complaining. if you want money. work for it. -- Posted by G Sus at 7:34 am on Sep. 21, 2008 i dont like people who get ema, not fair on the rich kids... -- Posted by 0h h3ll n0 at 7:35 am on Sep. 21, 2008 I didn't know you got a bonus... I don't think it is fair that people are getting more than they should be. I haven't sent my EMA forms off yet but I was told I would only get £10 per week b/c of my mums salary. -- Posted by Dannay at 7:36 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Quote: from 0h h3ll n0 at 3:35 pm on Sep. 21, 2008 I didn't know you got a bonus... I don't think it is fair that people are getting more than they should be. I haven't sent my EMA forms off yet but I was told I would only get £10 per week b/c of my mums salary. better than nothing..   -- Posted by BLUEAUTOMATIC at 7:36 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Quote: from Dannay at 3:33 pm on Sep. 21, 2008 GOOD! i think EMA is so unfair.. none of us should get it, or all of us should get it simple as Or it should be regulated better so people who really do need £30 a month to go to school get it and those who don't really need it don't get it? I think so. Fundamentally, the idea and rule that children of wealthier parents do not need or should get EMA is a good one. -- Posted by ferakin at 7:37 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Quote: from MrScottish at 7:33 am on Sep. 21, 2008 please stop complaining. if you want money. work for it. I DO work for my money, in two jobs thankyou very much. My point is that the government is wasting so much money on these bonuses that are entirely unncessary. That's £400 a year PER STUDENT that could be better spent increasing London's police forces or reducing homelessness and gang culture gun crime. -- Posted by ManicD at 7:37 am on Sep. 21, 2008 I think the whole thing is shit, for years and years students have managed to go to 6th form with needing £30 a week, the ones that did got a weekend job like i did. suddenly they need money. i dont get it. i didnt need money, no-one i knew needed the money, but nwo they do, and whats it spent on? cinema? alcohol? days out? defiantly nothing educational!!! -- Posted by ferakin at 7:39 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Quote: from BlueAutomatic at 7:36 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Quote: from Dannay at 3:33 pm on Sep. 21, 2008 GOOD!    i think EMA is so unfair.. none of us should get it, or all of us should get it    simple as Or it should be regulated better so people who really do need £30 a month to go to school get it and those who don't really need it don't get it? I think so. Fundamentally, the idea and rule that children of wealthier parents do not need or should get EMA is a good one. I agree with that statement, but I don't agree with the bonus scheme since that money is like a reward for doing well. Why should the poorer students be rewarded for their efforts and the wealthier students not? I always found that within education it was the badly behaved students who were rewarded for one piece of good behaviour and not the consistently well-behaved kids. To me, this is like that: they are rewarded because they're poor, not because they're working hard or acheiving things. -- Posted by BLUEAUTOMATIC at 7:39 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Quote: from 0h h3ll n0 at 3:35 pm on Sep. 21, 2008 I didn't know you got a bonus... I don't think it is fair that people are getting more than they should be. I haven't sent my EMA forms off yet but I was told I would only get £10 per week b/c of my mums salary. It's bands. The amount you get is dependant on the salary of your parents. -- Posted by 0h h3ll n0 at 7:40 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Quote: from BlueAutomatic at 7:36 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Fundamentally, the idea and rule that children of wealthier parents do not need or should get EMA is a good one. I agree.. -- Posted by ferakin at 7:41 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Quote: from 0h h3ll n0 at 7:35 am on Sep. 21, 2008 I didn't know you got a bonus... I don't think it is fair that people are getting more than they should be. I haven't sent my EMA forms off yet but I was told I would only get £10 per week b/c of my mums salary. That's probably right, since it is means tested - meaning that you get less of a grant as your family income moves up into the next bracket. eg. Family 1 earns less than £10,000pa so gets £30 per week     Family 2 earns £20,000pa so gets £20 per week etc -- Posted by BLUEAUTOMATIC at 7:42 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Quote: from ferakin at 3:39 pm on Sep. 21, 2008 I agree with that statement, but I don't agree with the bonus scheme since that money is like a reward for doing well. Why should the poorer students be rewarded for their efforts and the wealthier students not?   I always found that within education it was the badly behaved students who were rewarded for one piece of good behaviour and not the consistently well-behaved kids. To me, this is like that: they are rewarded because they're poor, not because they're working hard or acheiving things. Nah, I wasn't disagreeing with that. It just pisses me off when people can't just be grateful they're getting a free education full stop. -- Posted by dcdx89 at 7:42 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Me like a lot of people see that EMA is a fucking unfair system...what because my parents work hard to earn over £30,000 and because i don't live in a shitty house i don't get any money... So i can still attend college everyday, behave myself and learn but if my mum and dad were lazy and on benefits or something i could be earning £30 a week..great. I would rather keep my pride cheers. -- Posted by BLUEAUTOMATIC at 7:45 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Quote: from dcdx89 at 3:42 pm on Sep. 21, 2008 Me like a lot of people see that EMA is a fucking unfair system...what because my parents work hard to earn over £30,000 and because i don't live in a shitty house i don't get any money... So i can still attend college everyday, behave myself and learn but if my mum and dad were lazy and on benefits or something i could be earning £30 a week..great. I would rather keep my pride cheers. Get a fucking clue mate. You're just a greedy piece of shit. You obviously don't understand what it is like for some people who live in low income families. -- Posted by carbonara at 7:47 am on Sep. 21, 2008 FYI EMA students only get 2 bonuses. One after Christmas and one at the end of the year. I completely agree with what you are saying, EMA is a very flawed system but i get it, so I'm not complaining. The money i get helps me in a lot of ways. Without it i wouldn't be able to pay for my bus passes, and it has helped me to buy supplies for this year. But you're right, it is too much money and not enough people get it. -- Posted by ferakin at 7:47 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Quote: from dcdx89 at 7:42 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Me like a lot of people see that EMA is a fucking unfair system...what because my parents work hard to earn over £30,000 and because i don't live in a shitty house i don't get any money... So i can still attend college everyday, behave myself and learn but if my mum and dad were lazy and on benefits or something i could be earning £30 a week..great. I would rather keep my pride cheers. I personally don't see it quite so harshly as that, but I can see what you mean. Then again, you can easily apply your thinking to benefits and jobseekers allowance (so you can't be arsed to work more than 4 hours a week and thus get paid a full days work for free). It really is an unfair system. -- Posted by Sunshine Buddy at 7:47 am on Sep. 21, 2008 I don't give a crap. I'm not entitled to EMA. -- Posted by 0h h3ll n0 at 7:49 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Quote: from dcdx89 at 7:42 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Me like a lot of people see that EMA is a fucking unfair system...what because my parents work hard to earn over £30,000 and because i don't live in a shitty house i don't get any money... So i can still attend college everyday, behave myself and learn but if my mum and dad were lazy and on benefits or something i could be earning £30 a week..great. I would rather keep my pride cheers. Well the obvious idea is that your parents provide that £30 for you since they have more money in the first place... -- Posted by ferakin at 7:49 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Quote: from carbonara at 7:47 am on Sep. 21, 2008 FYI EMA students only get 2 bonuses. One after Christmas and one at the end of the year. I completely agree with what you are saying, EMA is a very flawed system but i get it, so I'm not complaining. The money i get helps me in a lot of ways. Without it i wouldn't be able to pay for my bus passes, and it has helped me to buy supplies for this year. But you're right, it is too much money and not enough people get it. I'm really please EMA has helped you with your education: that's the whole point of it. Which is why I don't disagree too much with the basic £30pw system. But the bonuses are uselessly spent since the student already has everything needed with the £30pw! And also, I know there is definitely a christmas and a summer bonus, but I was under the impression that there is an easter bonus and they are going to introduce a September bonus (to allow students to pay for their bus passes in one go, I guess). -- Posted by ferakin at 7:51 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Quote: from 0h h3ll n0 at 7:49 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Quote: from dcdx89 at 7:42 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Me like a lot of people see that EMA is a fucking unfair system...what because my parents work hard to earn over £30,000 and because i don't live in a shitty house i don't get any money...    So i can still attend college everyday, behave myself and learn but if my mum and dad were lazy and on benefits or something i could be earning £30 a week..great.    I would rather keep my pride cheers. Well the obvious idea is that your parents provide that £30 for you since they have more money in the first place... Well they did provide that for me by paying for my bus pass and my books and supplies. And even then, who's to say that my family could still afford to give me that £30pw? They may not fall into one of the EMA annual income brackets, but isn't it possible that there are other expenses? Or that a family earns one pound over the top bracket? -- Posted by BLUEAUTOMATIC at 7:55 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Quote: from ferakin at 3:51 pm on Sep. 21, 2008 Quote: from 0h h3ll n0 at 7:49 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Quote: from dcdx89 at 7:42 am on Sep. 21, 2008 Me like a lot of people see that EMA is a fucking unfair system...what because my parents work hard to earn over £30,000 and because i don't live in a shitty house i don't get any money...     So i can still attend college everyday, behave myself and learn but if my mum and dad were lazy and on benefits or something i could be earning £30 a week..great.     I would rather keep my pride cheers.    Well the obvious idea is that your parents provide that £30 for you since they have more money in the first place... Well they did provide that for me by paying for my bus pass and my books and supplies. And even then, who's to say that my family could still afford to give me that £30pw? They may not fall into one of the EMA annual income brackets, but isn't it possible that there are other expenses? Or that a family earns one pound over the top bracket? If they fell only one pound over the bracket, I'm sure allowances would be considered. And even then, if they fell £1 under they'd only get £10 a week. In any case, my family are in a lot of debt (mainly mortgage) even though they earn over twice the maximum amount needed. I'm still not complaining about EMA, mainly because my parents debt is their own fault and not the state's. -- Posted by Natsy at 8:06 am on Sep. 21, 2008 coz we're just awesome lol xx -- Posted by Kieran at 1:05 pm on Sep. 21, 2008 this is all alot of crap im ar 16 i work bloddy hard on the weekends i have no time to myself and i dont qualify for ema basicaly wat the govenment is doing is saying to the lazy arses of the country 'its ok ur on the dole for no reason so we will pay your child 2' i dont qualify for the ema but i get sod all from my mum and dad i pay for my bus passes my self and my food and still my freinds with ema have money just to throw away it realy pisses me off (the people who are genuinely dissabled are right to get this grant im excluding them from my tyrade its just the scum of the country what anoyes me,   another thing , why sould i be judged on what my mum and dad has??? im 16 and i work , my freind is elegable for ema and works as a model, £200 for 4 hours work of fluttering her eye lashes and i work for £4,25 an hour     Tryade over ,,,,,, Kieran -- Posted by jonlester31 at 1:28 pm on Sep. 21, 2008 and 30 franks equals what? -- Posted by Driftwood at 2:15 am on Sep. 22, 2008 Quote: from cheeseyitem at 7:34 am on Sep. 21, 2008 i dont like people who get ema, not fair on the rich kids... :O thats offensive to moi!! biatch :) x -- Posted by dramaqueenxoxo at 3:52 am on Sep. 22, 2008 Grr! I want my EMA now! I am supposed to get £30 a week because my parents are unemployed but they fucked the forms up! It is fair because in some households, parents can't afford to have a child dependant on them over the age of 16 so many people (myself included) would leave after GCSEs and get a job. -- Posted by amiee at 11:15 am on Sep. 22, 2008 Quote: from dcdx89 at 3:42 pm on Sep. 21, 2008 Me like a lot of people see that EMA is a fucking unfair system...what because my parents work hard to earn over £30,000 and because i don't live in a shitty house i don't get any money...   So i can still attend college everyday, behave myself and learn but if my mum and dad were lazy and on benefits or something i could be earning £30 a week..great.   I would rather keep my pride cheers. Get a grip. You don't think the parents of those receiving the EMA work hard? You can't be so dim as to believe that all of those receiving £30 a week are children of those who are unemployed, lazy, on benefits, living in shitty housing, etc., surely? Pages: 1 2  Next