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Computer glitch stops students’ money        5/5/14

 

Senior island pupils have been unable to get their latest Education Maintenance Award (EMA) payment because of a computer glitch at the Comhairle.

 

The technology problems stopped the money being transferred from the council on Thursday.

 

The cash is stuck in limbo until Tuesday because by the time the fault was fixed the banks were shut for the holiday weekend.

 

A spokesperson said council staff were “working hard to sort out these difficulties.”

 

He said they managed to get the computer to release EMA payments

 

However, the “bank holiday on Monday means that this will be Tuesday night, at the earliest.

 

“We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause but would like to assure pupils we are doing everything we can to sort out the difficulties we are having and to prevent a recurrence of this in the future.”

EMA is a grant worth £30 weekly paid to many young people between 16 and 19 years to encourage them to stay in school or college.