Education Minister Jane Davidson announced the changes

It means that there will be four instead of two people in senior positions, at an extra cost of tens of thousands of pounds at Education Learning Wales (Elwa).

The organisation provides education and training for over 16-year-olds and is Wales' biggest government agency, with a budget of more than �800m.

Elwa is made up of two bodies - one of which deals with further education and another which funds colleges and universities.

At present, both share senior staff, but Education Minister Jane Davidson announced on Wednesday that each of those bodies would now have its own chief executive and finance officer - meaning four top level posts instead of two.

Opposition parties have described the split as a "sad indictment" of the way Ms Davidson had managed Elwa.

The decision comes as a leaked letter from the Welsh local government association warned Elwa that it was underfunding sixth forms in Wales by almost �11m

One school in Bangor, Ysgol Friars, has said it faces cuts in its sixth form of �61,000 as a result.

Accusations

The impact of the restructuring of Elwa will be felt throughout the organisation, which has faced heavy criticism in recent months.

In January, an official audit report alleged that Elwa had spent �2.2m of public money without the proper authority from the Welsh Assembly Government.

The Auditor General for Wales accused the agency of failing to make key checks in awarding contracts.

A month later, BBC Wales' Week In Week Out current affairs programme also investigated one of Elwa's flagship projects, the Pop Factory caf� in Rhondda.

The programme established that �4m was given upfront to a privately-run scheme at the centre which had yet to train a single youngster.

Also this year, Assembly Members have been told Elwa made mistakes in setting up the National Council for Education and Training for Wales.

Welcomed

The restructuring has been described as inevitable by Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones.

He called on Jane Davidson to acknowledge that "mistakes were made" and she should be held accountable for them.

Conservative AM Alun Cairns added it was a sad indictment of the performance of the minister in managing ELWa.

However, the move has been welcomed by the chairs of the two bodies in Wales which make up Elwa...the Higher Education Funding Council and the National Council for Education and Training.

They said it represented "further significant investment" on the part of the Welsh Assembly Government which would help both organisations achieve key aims such as encouraging more people to learn.