IT’S certainly no surprise that Kirklees College is having to make major cuts.

Fifty jobs are to go this year and the signals are that others will follow over the coming years as college bosses try to spread the pain.

The cutbacks on funding to childcare places means it is going to be tough for parents – especially single parents – to access the education they need to find work.

Will this mean they will have to continue to rely on benefits just to survive and what happens if those benefits then fall to the Government axe?

The college receives 80% of its funding from the Government which means it now has to focus on courses which are seen as Government priorities and classed as “high quality vocational and skills training that meets the needs of businesses.’’

After all, they may have to take up quite a strain from students who shun university tuition fees next year.

It means that courses people learn primarily for their own enjoyment are set to go – and that’s already the case with the college’s decision to shut its Holmfirth Centre where courses such as gardening and creative writing are now held.

Perhaps it opens the doors for others to set up as community-based tutors.

But with all these cutbacks, no doubt many at the college – both students and lecturers – will question the decision to carry on sponsoring Huddersfield Town to the tune of £75,000 a year.