In addition to that, there is some ageism in the system. At present, Student Finance Wales cuts off funding for those who are 60 and over in the year that their course starts. And yet, we know that the older people’s commissioner and the Arad review have highlighted the huge benefits of lifelong learning in helping older people to live more independent lives, and more fulfilled lives. And so I think that it’s really important that that ageism within the system is also addressed, because we know that if we’re helping to promote independence, if we’re helping to support older people, delaying a package of social care, even just for one month, could save £1.8 million a year on average to our annual budgets.

In terms of flexibility, obviously we’ve got to ensure that those who choose to study part time are able to access it in as flexible a way as possible. We need to ensure that people can retrain, both within work and without work, in order to equip them to get back into the workforce, and we, for one, want to ensure that degree-level qualifications can be accessed on a modular approach, and of course many universities make those things available.

So, in short, I do hope that there will be cross-party support for the motion that we’ve put down. We all agree, I’m sure, that education is a lifelong pursuit. We want to ensure that there’s that parity of esteem between part-time and full-time provision, and we want to ensure that there’s adequate independent careers advice to help people back into the workplace. So, I do hope very much that Members will be supporting the motion.