* In last week’s edition Dave Gibson, AOC chief executive, was quoted as saying the Government should abandon educational maintenance allowance pilots and introduce a mix of loans and grants for all four million students.
Mr Gibson actually said that the Government’s timetable for trialling the allowance was too slow. He has asked us to point out that the AOC supports the experiment, although as yet the Government has given no commitment to its introduction on a universal basis. He feels the discretionary award system has collapsed and while the enhancement of college funds is very welcome, it cannot fill the gap which has emerged.
