Unless the squeeze on funding for further education in Wales is relaxed, quality is under serious threat.
That is the warning 19 chairs of governors of further education colleges in Wales have issued in a letter to Welsh secretary William Hague. They state that they have been set a "virtually impossible mission" of making extra cuts while raising student numbers.
The 1997 Public Expenditure Settlement projection "leaves the sector in a dire situation as colleges will not be able to redress years of underinvestment in buildings" the letter states.
It requests a meeting with the Welsh Office to discuss funding. Wales's 26 FE colleges cater for 191,000 students and have an annual budget in excess of Pounds 148 million.