Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA)

Seema Malhotra has unearthed some interesting stuff about the Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA) here. Quoting the IFS, she suggests it particularly helps ethnic minorities from poor backgrounds.  As far as I can see the Con Dem government is proposing to abolish it without replacement, which gives you an idea of how far improving educational attainment comes on their list of priorities.  The only alternative that I have seen Michael Gove suggest is that individual schools set up a hardship fund paid for out of their core funding.  This doesn't sound like an adequate substitute.  It also sounds like a way to divert "pupil premium" from funding education directly to other uses, casting doubt on whether Sarah Teather's claims to be increasing funding are in fact true.