19th December 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
Children’s charities including Barnardo’s have said that the poorest school children have suffered ‘stealth cuts’ to grants which were designed to help them stay in education. The government’s Bursary Fund is there to help 16-19 year olds meet the costs of studying, but it has been revealed that the funds available have not kept up with inflation. The charities say that the grants have diminished by about 10%, leaving a shortfall in the funds targeted at keeping students in education. The Bursary Fund was introduced to replace the Educational Maintenance Fund (EMA) which the government scrapped.
The fund currently pays grants of about £1,200 a year to 12,000 vulnerable students, including those with disabilities and those who live in foster care. The grants are there to help students who would otherwise not be able to afford the costs associated with education, including transport and books. However, Barnardo’s and other children’s charities including Action for Children and The Who Cares Trust have pointed out that the grant has not been increased with inflation, meaning that the value of the grant to students is now £120 less than when it was introduced. The report produced by the charities also said that some children were skipping meals in order to pay for transport to college.
The report concluded that as the funds were reduced, students would drop out of education as the costs become too great for them to meet. Barnardo’s urged the government to raise the grant in line with inflation, and warned that not doing so would push thousands of disadvantaged young people out of education. The charities are calling for the government to raise the grants available to individual students to £1350 per year. The government defended the bursary programme, commenting that further funds were available for disadvantaged students to be awarded at the discretion of their colleges.