Students from Hackney’s BSix Sixth Form College protested inside a skip outside Downing Street this morning (Wednesday).
Fifteen youngsters joined trade unionists in a demonstration against the scrapping of the education maintenance allowance (EMA).
Seventy-two per cent of students at the Kenninghall Road college currently receive the EMA and many fear they will be forced to drop out if the payment is axed.
They waved a banner saying “Don’t scrap our futures”, and the skip was covered in graffiti slogans saying “Give us a job”, “Save our EMA” and “No funding, no future”.
The protest coincided with the release of the latest unemployment figures.
Dave Prentis, general secretary of public sector trade union UNISON, said: “The government is tossing young people onto a scrapheap with its savage cuts, which will cause collateral damage to millions of lives. It is time to put the breaks on, stop the cuts and give young people a chance.”
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