Financial help should target 17-year-olds, MPs told
Jessica Lewis-Bell
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
MPs have been told that the government should focus financial support on 17-year-olds to avoid an increase in the number of young people classed as not in education, employment or training (Neet).
Independent research consultant Mark Corney told the education select committee that studies he has done into participation of 16- to 19-year-olds found that any replacement to the education maintenance allowance (EMA) would be best targeted on 17-year-olds who are at risk of becoming Neet.
Students currently get a maximum amount of £30 a week if they are aged between 16 and 19 through the EMA, which costs more than £560m annually. But the government is scrapping the fund and replacing it with a discretionary learner support fund that will be worth £78m, while details of how it will be administered are yet to be announced.
Corney said: "We are nearly there with 16-year-olds, we need to focus on those aged 17." He claimed that focusing money on 17-year-olds would improve retention and attendance for young people.
Corney’s comments were made as part of an evidence session on participation of 16- to 19-year-olds.
David Lawrence, principal of Easton College, agreed that 17-year-olds were the most likely to drop out of courses, often due to transportation problems.
But Elaine McMahone, principal of Hull College, said Corney’s comments contradicted the principles of early intervention. She said: "Young people need opportunities at 14, 15 and 16. If we started looking at what was going wrong at 14, we wouldn’t need to be talking about problems at 17."