How scandalous it is that a college which, from the seventies to the early nineties really was at the heart of the community, has been allowed to sink into near-oblivion.

In the 1980s the catering department of Scarborough Technical College had an international reputation; business studies students won national prizes; at one point more than 400 adults were studying languages at evening classes; the technology depart-ment produced some of the town’s most competent tradespeople and the work of students from the art department can still be seen around the area.

Then Thatcher’s destructive education policy introduced self governance with consequent bad management by power seekers who ignored good educational practice and ended the positive contribution that the college had for so many years made to the community.

Subsequent New Labour policies did nothing to redress the balance with the result that further education (not only in Scarbor-ough) has seen a decline, leaving a large part of the population without the quality of provision they would have enjoyed in the past.

If a merger with another establishment means that YCC will regain the reputation it once had, so much the better, but until the Government commits itself to fully resourcing further education I doubt things will improve.

Linda Sherwood

Rue des frères Lumière

26000 Valence

France