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From The Socialist newspaper, 28 September 2016
Knowsley: No A-level education on offer
Bring back EMA! Photo by Senan (Click to enlarge)
Neil Dunne, Knowsley
In an area with such poverty and neglect as Knowsley, Merseyside, its shocking that no A-levels course will be on offer anymore.
The last academy, the Halewood Academy, to close down this provision claims: "it has become financially unviable to continue to deliver A-Levels."
They are following suit from two other A-level providers in Knowsley - Knowsley Community College and All Saints Catholic High School sixth form. The latter is the senior school which I attended and provided A-level courses to a good standard. A-levels are one of a couple of routes into higher education which students are constantly told will give them the best chance to get a good job.
Only two other local authorities currently have no state funded schools with A-Level provision - the City of London and the Scilly Isles - where the number of schools and population is far smaller than that of Knowsley.
Maria Eagle is MP for the area around Halewood Academy. Her excuse was that as it was a privately run business, there was nothing she could do about it.
Students will now need to travel up to 12 miles to other premises serving A-level provision. Transport links are poor and would be a financial burden for most, if not all, considering that Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) was taken away from students.
I received this EMA and the burden was lifted from my parents, while living in one of the poorest and most deprived areas in the UK.
This is an example of how the poorest suffer the hardest under austerity.
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In The Socialist 28 September 2016:
#CorbynWins
Consolidate the Corbyn victory
Labour Party conference: campaigning to reinstate socialist ideas
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
#CorbynWins: New tasks for TUSC
Socialist Party news and analysis
Theresa May attacks migrants and refugees
One million victims of 'rogue' landlords
£46m spent on suspending public sector workers
Students late and hungry due to privatised trains
Socialist Party youth and students
"Suspended adulthood" the norm for young people
Socialist Students launched in USA
Knowsley: No A-level education on offer
Setting out our stall... reports of campus campaigning
Battle of Cable Street
Cable Street: When workers united and fought the fascist threat at Cable Street
Black History Month
Black history month and its relevance today
Socialist Party workplace news
The guard stays on the train after the RMT defeats ScotRail bosses
Junior doctors' strikes off - coordinated action needed
Victory for firefighters facing dismissal in Manchester
Napo conference 2016: Bloodied but unbowed!
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Newcastle: Socialist Party defies ban to counter the far-right
Socialism 2016: Get face to face with the socialists!
NHS heart centre campaign intensifies
Washdyke v Shoreline: the housing battle in Immingham
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