AFTER childhood health problems kept him away from conventional education, an adult student is proving that it is never too late to learn.

Andrew Johnson, 33, who lives at the Grange Residential Home in Shildon, was born paralysed from the waist down and later developed a mild form of epilepsy.

Because long spells in hospital kept him out of the classroom in his early years, he was 13 before he could take start taking courses to catch up.

Now he is continuing with his education at the Leap Adult Education Centre in Shildon through a £50m Get On North-East campaign, which is part of a national Skills for Life literacy and numeracy strategy.

He is talking with tutors about helping others to learn by becoming a volunteer and wants to be a fundraiser. He is taking further courses, including performing arts, to add to the qualifications he has earned in computing, first aid and catering at the Grange and Darlington College and Technology.

He said: "At the age of 13, my skills were non-existent and by the time I entered adulthood I had practically no qualifications.

"I started to develop my basic literacy and numeracy skills, then took those skills to help me with other courses such as computing."

Rosemary Wilson, development worker at the centre, said: "People like Andrew are an inspiration to others who find they are trying to make their way through the adult world with poor literacy or numeracy skills.

"Some 400,000 adults in the region are believed to have the literacy and numeracy skills of an 11-year-old. People like Andrew show that there is still everything to be gained by turning to education later in life."

For information on courses call 0800 100 900.