THOUGH there is much apparent merit in the scheme unveiled today to pay children from poorer families £40 a week to stay on in education, the government is right to try it out first in only a few selected areas.

This is because, for all its noble ideals of reclaiming the "lost generation" of young people who are not in jobs or education, many of whom risk ending up on the streets, there is also a risk that this could end up as a state subsidy for the feckless.

Targeted first at 12 pilot areas where the number of early school leavers is above the national average, the plan is to pay this "education maintenance allowance" directly to 16 to 18 year olds whose parents earn less than £13,000.

The hope is to encourage them to stay at school or college and acquire qualifications and, so, have greater opportunity of a job and advancement rather than unemployment or even homelessness. And even at a cost of £70 million, this experiment deserves the scope to prove its value.

This is because joblessness, hopelessness and homelessness among the young are social curses that have high costs in themselves.

But it must be borne in mind that many of those this scheme is intended to help are those inclined to leave school early and jeopardise their prospects because they have already given up on learning.

There is a danger, then, that for many this grant may be simply a handout rather than an incentive.

And at the very least, there ought to be strict insistence on attendance at school or college as eligibility for payment.

There must also be firm proof of the scheme's success before it is extended to the whole country at a cost of £300 million.

It must be shown to deliver better qualifications and prospects as well as reduced homeless among young people from poorer families, rather than being another tax-funded cosmetic improver of the unemployment figures.

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