IThitch Holds Up Grants for Students

By Joe Willis

THOUSANDS of students in the region are facing financial hardship after their grants failed to arrive.

Many 16 to 18-year-olds at colleges in the North-East and North Yo rkshire are still waiting to hear if they will receive an Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA).

Officers have blamed the delay on computer and telephone problems at Liberata, the private company brought in to run the EMA scheme.

Bosses at Darlington College said only 50 students had been told they would receive a grant at enrolment ? compared to about 200 in previous years.

Many students had not applied because they had not been given application packs in schools or were experiencing problems getting through to the Liberata helpline, officials said.

The college said this meant students would not have money to meet travel costs or to buy essential equipment.

Andrea Amos, Darlington College?s assistant director of student recruitment andmarketing, said: ?It has been a confusing time for staffand students and the college is hoping that Liberata speed up the process or there will be a massive backlog of notification of entitlements and students will have to wait for payment.

?The Liberata helplines seem to be continuously engaged and we have received many calls from anxious parents asking what is going on. ? Bishop Auckland College said its student support team was also experiencing difficulties in administrating EMAs because some of the students had not received their notice of entitlement.

The college said its students or their parents could call the support centre on 01388443051.

Trevor Fellowes, director of learner support at the Learning and Skills Council, said no young person would lose out.

?We will backdate all payments for applications received within 28 days of when a course starts, ? he said.

?The company has taken on an additional 400 extra staff, at its expense, to ensure a swift turnaround. ? Nationally, up to 150,000 students are though to be affected.

Schools Secretary Ed Balls has admitted he is unhappy about the delays.

He said: ?It?s really frustrating that we are in this position with the EMA because, actually, EMAs are really, really important. ? The EMA scheme was set up by the Government to encourage more teenagers to stay in education after the age of 16.

This is the first year that Liberata has been responsible for the delivery of the grants.

The company won the [pounds]80m five-year contract last year, taking over from Capita.

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