For many adults from “ordinary working families” and those “just about managing,” returning to learning or retraining as a means of self-improvement has become a pipe dream. The figures speak for themselves: since 2009, over a million adult learners have been lost from education.

A steady reduction in funding for adult learning in colleges, a key shift of the costs onto college-based learners via a new system of loans, cuts to English language courses and increased higher education tuition fees have effectively ruled out a return to the classroom, workshop or lecture hall for many adults.

The government has implemented such significant cuts to the adult learning budget that the Association of Colleges was prompted to issue a dire warning that if it carried on at the same rate, adult education would cease to exist by 2020. The 2015/16 budget for adult skills was cut by 24 per cent, coming after a 35 per cent reduction in funding since 2009.

In April 2013, the government took the decision to make a fundamental shift in the financing of adult learning with the introduction of advanced learner loans for the over-24s studying in further education.

From August 2016 the loans were extended to 19-year-olds. Adults now have to be prepared to take on significant debt to access learning or retraining.

Budgets for English for speakers of other languages (Esol) courses were also squeezed and waiting lists soared.

In July 2016, the government, waxed lyrical about immigrants integrating into British society better, but then cut a £45 million programme of English courses for foreign language speakers run in partnership with Jobcentre Plus.

Watching these events unfold, it seemed that lifelong learning in further education was being singled out for cuts by a government looking to balance the books across education.

Colleges were in danger of being forced to narrow their mission to apprenticeships, courses for 16 to 18-year-olds and GCSE resits.

The fact that our further education colleges are institutions rooted in local communities and draw students from those communities — a beacon of hope for adults wishing to retrain or reskill, was being swept under the carpet.

Further education has long been undervalued by the political establishment, in part because the majority have no first-hand experience of it.

Anyone who has experienced the sector understands its value, not only to offer a second chance but as the sector which can constantly innovate to educate people for the changing nature of work.

But it can’t do this without long-term sustainable funding so we welcome the Labour Party’s recognition that adult education should be put on a par with other parts of the education system and specifically its manifesto pledge to replace advanced learner loans and upfront course fees with direct funding.

This would make further education courses, including Esol courses, once again free at the point of use.

Labour says it would increase average course funding by 10 per cent year on year, and increase the total adult skills budget by £1.5bn to reach £3bn a year by 2021/22.

Under its “national education service” plans, Labour has also pledged to abandon new technical colleges and redirect the money into increasing teacher numbers in further education.

The University and College Union (UCU) has called for a more sustainable approach to building the education workforce of the future and better protection for employment rights.

We have led a campaign for 15,000 further education teaching staff to support over 250,000 more learners into education. We have also called for zero-hours contracts to be eradicated and for duties on employers to offer secure employment to be strengthened.

In higher education, there has been a huge loss of part-time learners — an estimated nine out of 10 of whom are adults (over 21). Part-time first-year enrolments in the UK as a whole have fallen by 40 per cent since 2010.

UCU believes education is a public good that should be publicly funded and cost should never be a barrier to participation. Labour’s pledge to abolish tuition fees at a cost of £1.4bn a year is in step with our own policy. On top of that, the party says it would bring back student maintenance grants for higher education students — they were scrapped by George Osborne in 2016.

The question being asked is how would Labour pay for its raft of education policies?

The party’s response is that most would be funded from increasing corporation tax, a tax which generated just under £50bn last year.

UCU has called for increased public investment in tertiary education to at least the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average and we have proposed exploring alternative funding options including a rise in corporation tax.

The opportunity to study part-time is hugely important, both for individuals and for the country. It is a key driver in social mobility and in building a stronger economy, as the need to retrain becomes ever more important in a job market that is changing rapidly.

There is no such thing as a job for life any more. Education and training shouldn’t end at 18 or at 21. Learning and retraining are lifelong endeavours that should be available to all, regardless of their ability to pay. It is time to for adult learning to be recognised and supported as a vital part of the education system.

• Sally Hunt is general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU).