UNISON members are preparing to protest against the abolition the education
maintenance allowance (EMA), as a shocking survey reveals that 70% of
college students who rely on the support will be forced to drop out of their
course.
As staff and students carry out lunchtime protests tomorrow (18 January) and
MPs prepare to vote on the future of the EMA on Wednesday (19 January), the
poll of students at the 30 colleges and sixth-forms with the highest
proportion of students receiving the EMA, also shows that over a third (38%)
of those who get the college grant would not have started their course
without it.
UNISON members will be attending a lobby on the day of the opposition day
debate in Parliament, in which MPs will vote on a motion that calls on the
government to rethink its plans to scrap the financial support.
Ahead of the general election, both David Cameron and the education
secretary, Michael Gove, said they would not scrap EMAs.
Key findings from the poll, carried out by University and Colleges union
(UCU), include: