Summary
TONY Blair's latest stunt to keep students at school is to pay them. If a pupil's parents earn less than Pounds 30,000, a child will have Pounds 10 a week paid into their bank account - more if their parents earn less. Half of all 16-year-olds are eligible. They can spend their Educational Maintenance Allowance on whatever they want. The total bill to the taxpayer is half a billion pounds a year.
Trials have been a great success, says the Government, especially with boys. No surprise there then, up to Pounds 30 cash in hand a week is quite an incentive. The scheme will also help the Government achieve its other cherished goal of a university education for half of all children in this country.See the full content of this document
Extract
Bribing Pupils Is Labour's New Low
But is it right to bribe kids to stay at school when they clearly don't want to? And maybe they don't want to for very good reasons, like they actually want to learn a trade? And wouldn't half a billion pounds go a long way to setting up schemes to provide kids who aren't inclined to further education...
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