AS ITS principal for the past 15 years, I have found some of your recent news items about Accrington and Rossendale College to be mildly bewildering and wholly incredible.

Let me set the record straight. The college is flourishing and has just recorded yet another year of growth in 1994-5: more people got more qualifications in more subjects than ever before and 1995-6 is set to break new records.

The college is a very major contributor to the success of East Lancashire and a significant asset to the area.

No college, no school and no business can stand still. We are currently undergoing some important changes, notably continuing the steady improvement in our accommodation.

Readers will know that we recently moved out of older, unsuitable buildings in Cannon Street and Portland Street in Accrington and the GEC complex at Clayton-le-Moors. Much of this work is now carried out at our impressive building in Eagle Street, Accrington, and at our Rawtenstall centre.

We are now able to move out of the former grammar school in Blackburn Road (a building with historic connections, but unsuitable for a modern college) and transfer the courses to our large complex at Sandy Lane, Accrington, the developing Creative Arts centre at Rawtenstall, and the purpose-built hotel and catering facilities in the renovated Globe project in the centre of Accrington. These are all improvements and will enable us to extend and improve the range of courses.

Like all public-sector organisations, we are subject to very intense government pressure to reduce costs, and we have done so. We are now obliged to reduce staffing levels, not in order to reduce our programme of courses but to increase efficiency. We are doing that, too.

Many of those going are doing so voluntarily, but some, very regrettably, are being declared redundant.

This painful process of adjustment is one in which we appear to be some months ahead of another large local college which has just begun a similar course of action.

In short, we are well, thriving and expanding. We are planning for further growth in 1996-7 and count on the support of your newspaper in reporting continued good news from Accrington and Rossendale College.

G M AUSTIN, Principal, Accrington and Rossendale College.

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