AS A FORMER student and part-time lecturer at Accrington and Rossendale College, may I express my sadness and dismay regarding the events currently taking place there.

During the 1970s, as a mature A-level student, I was encouraged and enabled by dedicated tutors to continue my education at university.

Upon graduating, I was privileged to join those same tutors as a colleague on a part-time basis, a position I enjoyed until last summer when commercial considerations finally became more important to college management than the well-being of students and teaching staff, the latter including volunteer tutors in community classes who have given freely of their time and talents for many years.

The reported statements of the college principal concerning the present situation indicate a singular lack of understanding of the rapport which develops between tutor and students during a course of education.

Adult education opened up a whole new world for me and for countless others attending Accrington College over the years and I shall always be grateful for the dedication and loyalty of my tutors.

WINNIE BRIDGES, Cambridge Street, Great Harwood.

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