Reducing the Administrative Burden for Further Education Colleges

The introduction of the Government's Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) in September 2004 meant that more young people from poorer backgrounds could afford to stay on in further education instead of being forced to find work.

But the scheme brought with it an extra administrative burden for further education (FE) colleges. They now have to manage enrolment in the scheme, monitor attendance and notify the Assessment and Payment Body of their decisions to pay EMA students, or not pay, where applicable.

It is estimated that about half of all 16-year-olds studying in England qualify for the EMA. To receive the allowance, students must attend at least 12 hours of supervised further education courses each week. Payments are £10, £20 or £30 each week, depending on the income of the household. Students may also receive bonuses depending on the progress they make.

Attendance Management

Because attendance is a key factor in making payment decisions, FE college administrators need an accurate and efficient means of monitoring and recording this activity.

A system is therefore needed that gives FE college administrative staff the flexibility to choose the data capture methods that best suit their specific requirements. The software applied to control this document management needed to adapt to paper registers, direct data entry and remote entry using Web registers.

This flexibility is also needed in any reporting application, as users would need a wide range of report options. The most streamlined system would naturally allow users to create and save reports on the Web.

As well as offering Web reporting, the ideal software would also contain a Web portal with restricted access, password permissions allowing access to relevant information, plus the ability to Process EMA bonus payments and EMA documentation. Secure web access for attendance data entry and Web-based attendance reporting would complete an ideal system.

Tokairo specialises in delivering attendance tracking software and document management systems to Further Education colleges in the UK.

Visit http://www.tokam.co.uk for further information REF=TO3EZ

The Free Lance-Star
ON COLLEGE: University leaders talk drinking age
Redwood City Daily News, CA - 22 hours ago
By Jason Katz / Daily News columnist Q: I have heard that some college presidents are calling for a debate about whether the drinking age in the US should ...
Lowering drinking age won't lessen the problem Indianapolis Star
Keep the drinking age at 21 Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth Barnes of Dallas: Don't lower the bar - Changing the ... Dallas Morning News
The Free Lance-Star - Indianapolis Starall 72 news articles

TopNews
Palin Attended Four Colleges, Including Idaho, Spokeswoman Says
Bloomberg - 16 hours ago
Palin, the governor of Alaska, finished high school in 1982 and started college at the University of Hawaii-Hilo, transferring within a few weeks to Hawaii ...
Sarah Palin's Extensive College Career U.S. News & World Report
Palin switched colleges 6 times in 6 years The Associated Press
Sarah Palin: The Vulcan News needed you San Diego Union Tribune
Macleans.ca - Bloombergall 251 news articles

Opinion: Start new community college chancellor off on the right foot
San Jose Mercury News,  USA - 7 hours ago
It's not just that the vast majority of Californians who go to college attend a community college. It's also that unlike the California State University ...
4 finalists named for TSTC president TMCnet
all 2 news articles

Organic food push at Bates gets hefty donation
Boston Globe, United States - 3 hours ago
College officials said the campaign marked the first time a US college or university had tried to register all its students. Except for some students living ...
Friendly to planet, rude to diners Chicago Tribune
Colleges are doing away with cafeteria trays San Francisco Chronicle
all 4 news articles

How UC is rigging the admissions process
Los Angeles Times, CA - 3 hours ago
... to shoehorn underqualified black and Latino students into UC's flagship schools is an insult to the rest of California's college and university system. ...
UCLA's new admission policy rights a wrong Los Angeles Times
all 3 news articles

College Needn’t Bankrupt You
Newsweek - 15 hours ago
Brown University, for one, cost $48660 in 2007–08. Parents earning $80000 got a 59 percent discount but still owed a fat $20095. Most likely, they covered ...
Counseling on Student Loans Now May Ease Pain Later New York Times
all 38 news articles

The Southern Ledger
'Special' treatment for athletes
Indianapolis Star, United States - 4 hours ago
The reason for the preponderance of special admits in football is simple: Football is the financial engine for most college athletic departments, ...
No athletic dept at Vandy, but much success The Associated Press
all 40 news articles

SRM University wins trophy
Hindu, India - 13 hours ago
St. Joseph’s College of Engineering clinched the title in the Anna University inter-zone football tournament held recently at the Adiyamam College of ...

Houston Chronicle
College student fatally shot after a chance encounter with a drug ...
Houston Chronicle, United States - 5 hours ago
But a chance meeting at a north Houston gas station changed everything for Sam Houston State University student William Jackson Bius and admitted drug ...

College notes for Sept. 7
Appleton Post Crescent,  USA - 1 hour ago
Palmer College of Chiropractic, Davenport, Iowa: Andrea Schaefer, Chilton, and Brent Buss, Greenville. Rensselaer Polytechnic University, Troy, ...

Wind Chimes and more...

Windchimes for great gifts!

Getting Into College No Longer A Numbers Game!