STUDENTS in York joined a national day of action to protest about the coalition Government’s plans to scrap the Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA).

The EMA was introduced by the last Labour Government in an effort to encourage young people from deprived backgrounds to stay on in education after 16.

Under the scheme further education students living in households earning less than £30,800 a year are entitled to weekly payments of between £10 and £30. But the scheme costs £560 million a year and the coalition wants it scrapped.

Dozens students and their supporters gathered in Parliament Street from 4pm yesterday waving placards in protest on the cuts.

They chanted “No ifs, no buts, no education cuts” while waving banners reading: “You can’t burn our books if we can’t afford them”, and: “Without EMA I wouldn’t be at uni”.

Shadow education secretary Andy Burnham yesterday said there was a “compelling case” to keep EMA for educational, social, economic and democratic reasons.

In an opposition debate calling on the Government to rethink its policy, he said he was not prepared to see the ladder “kicked away” from young people.