THE warning from Jim Bennett , the principal of Coleg Gwent, about the cuts the college is facing is something we should all heed.

Last week, the college, which has more than 18,000 students, announced that there will be cuts to part time courses and a possibility of 130 job losses as it seeks to save £5.7 million - after cuts to the college's funding from the Welsh Assembly. Full time courses are unaffected.

The Welsh Government has reduced funding for part time courses by 50 per cent for 2015 and reduced all other funding by 2.6 per cent.

Those affected by the proposed cuts include more than 3,000 adult learners in the Community Education programmes which are run in partnership with the Gwent local authorities, 2,500 part time adult learners and 1,000 evening class learners.

The University and College Union told the Argus the Further Education college would provide 50,000 fewer teaching hours as a direct result of the cuts.

Mr Bennett warned: “These are very large cuts in our funding, and if they continue in the future, even though we are a strong college, the result will be the loss of all part time and adult learning with the exception of a small amount in priority areas such as literacy and numeracy.

“This is devastating for all those adults wanting to reskill, upskill or enhance their career prospects, and to those who need a second chance of a good education. The effects on our communities, especially the more vulnerable ones, will be felt for a long time.

“This is also upsetting and demoralising for our staff who provide great teaching and high levels of support to our learners.

"Staff are clearly shocked and upset by these cuts and we are doing our best to ensure effective communication and consultation with them and the trade unions to avoid compulsory redundancies wherever possible.”

UCU Coleg Gwent branch chairman Ian Whitehead-Ross said: "This is going to have a detrimental impact on community education across Gwent.

"These cuts will affect the heart and soul of Coleg Gwent and provide a challenging climate to education."

Philip Dixon, the director of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers union for Wales, said: "These cuts are being felt in every Further Education college in Wales because of savage cuts of funding by the Welsh Government.

"Further education is being devastated by this level of cuts imposed by the Welsh Government.

"We are going to see the loss of expertise in that system and a loss of skills.

"Lots of people affected by these cuts are older students and women students, people who are non traditional learners.

"This is a way back into education for them and this is being taken away."

Make no bones about it, the loss of a second chance to learn is worrying. It is yet another blow to those who seek to improve their lives and the prospects for their family.

It is yet another barrier put up in the way of social mobility.

The Welsh Government is facing tough decisions. It has to prioritise the NHS and its duty of care to children.

It, too, has seen its funding cut from Westminster in its austerity agenda.

A Welsh Government spokesman said they are working closely with colleges on the potential impacts of the reduced budget 2015/16 for further education colleges.

He said: “It is important, however, to recognise that we are protecting FE funding for 16-18 year olds as we appreciate the importance of further education in the drive to reduce the number of young people not in employment, education or training."

But we cannot go back to a society where we all just get one chance of an education - unless, of course, we have the funds to pay through the nose for private tuition.

Colleges like Coleg Gwent, with its campuses in Ebbw Vale, Cross Keys, Pontypool, Newport, and Usk, grew out of an adult educational movement which began in miners' institutes.

And, as Mr Bennett said, those communities which are most vulnerable, including those which have still not recovered from the job losses of the 1980s, will feel the cuts most keenly.

THE reaction to the letting go of Jeremy Clarkson by the BBC has been predictably febrile and ludicrous in some quarters.

People turning up at the BBC in a tank, threats to its Director General.

Get a grip.

This is a man who by his own admission attacked a work colleague.

In your own workplace, where do you think it would get anyone who tried it?

I suspect the answer for most would be the inside of a magistrates court.