Another EMA is possible

via Toni Pearce (Vice President (Further Education) for the National Union of Students

Lack of evidence appears to be a major theme of our current government’s waves of reform.

The scrapping of EMA was one of the biggest travesties in education policy of the last few years. Its removal flew in the face of all reliable evidence – evidence that showed enormous success rates with regards to post-16 educational retention. But we can do better.

And yes, we’ve always had the evidence and the arguments that say what they’re doing is wrong; but we also now have the evidence to go one step further and say how things should be reformed, based on what we know to be true. Thanks to the Pound In Your Pocket research, we now have an insight into how we might create a system that is fairer and more equitable.

Continue reading

Hazel’s comment:
It’s not only the lack of evidence on which the government bases its policy decisions that gets me angry but that when research shows that the policy is counter-productive it’s firmly suppressed.

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Routes onto Employment and Support Allowance

DWP Research Report 774 by Paul Sissons, Helen Barnes and Helen Stevens (Institute for Employment Studies) was published on 22 September 2011

Synopsis

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) was introduced in October 2008 to replace Incapacity Benefit (IB) and Income Support (IS) received on the grounds of incapacity.
This report presents the findings from a two-wave survey of ESA claimants providing detailed information about the characteristics of claimants and their short-term employment trajectories over a period of around 18 months.
The research involved face-to-face interviews with a sample of 3,650 people who claimed ESA between April and June 2009, and follow-up telephone interviews with 1,842 participants who agreed to be contacted again.

Full report (PDF 94pp)

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They took their time but

the Learning and Skills Council has discontinued its contract with Liberata and appointed Capita to take on its full range of learner support services – including Education Maintenance Allowances (EMA) and the Adult Learning Grant (ALG).

Full press release here

I just hope that it is not from frying pan to fire but I guess the LSC didn't have a lot of choice.

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Extention to Deadline for EMA Applications to Ensure No Learner Misses Out

via LSC Corporate news by LSC on 29 September

Read the full news update

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EMA letter to college principals - September 2008

The letter, email about which arrived in my inbox this morning, sets out the reasons why EMA has not been paid. Addressed to "college principals" the letter mentions that sixth-form colleges have also been informed. I hope that this includes 11-18 schools where several of my friends from church are struggling to buy necessary books and equipment for their studies.

You will all be aware of the problems we are currently experiencing with the quality of performance from our contractors for the delivery of EMA. This letter summarises the problems and sets out the actions we have in hand to resolve them.

The letter (PDF 3pp) is here

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Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) payments delays

press statement via LSC Corporate news by on 3 September

The Learning and Skills Council has confirmed that all eligible students who apply for the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) and who may have experienced delays with the processing of their application form will get all the payments for which they are eligible. All payments will be backdated and no-one will miss out.

Hazel's comment:
That's all very well but I can hear the moans from here. If you're in a position to be eligible for EMA then you've been means-tested and you bloomin' well need the money. Not next week or next month when the backlog of applications may have been processed but now.

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Medics top the poll of professions today’s teens want to date

I really, really thought that I'd stopped being critical of the LSC's (Learning and Skills Council's) information management but I haven't.

Background to that statement is that some time ago Dawn and I agreed on a "who does what" policy which meant that she covered information from the LSC except for data issues but because we have realigned responsibilities I got it back and wish I hadn't!

So, I looked at the title of this press release and thought it completely uninteresting and irrelevant but ... thought I ought to go and look since the email notification provides a title (as above) and a link http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/lsc/National/nat-medicstoppollprofessions-may08.pdf in full but no abstract or other indication of what it's actually about.

Oops, what's that extension? PDF? For a press release? (Please read with emphasis and a disbelieving tone of voice).

Yup, my eyes did not deceive me.

And as for content, this press release, issued on 20 May embargoed until 26 May included in an email which arrived in my inbox on 4 June, is about a survey conducted by the LSC in conjunction with the folks who manage the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) (I thought that was a division of the LSC but what do I know?). The lowest choice for dating is someone who is unemployed -- but if unemployed person had stayed in education and training with the support of an EMA then s/he would rise up the datability scale!

I never saw such contrived marketing in all my born days!