AN education specialist who devised a national curriculum for a Pacific country is to help boost the numbers of North-East youngsters staying in education.

Peter Cradock, who helped create the first national curriculum for Papua New Guinea, has taken up a post with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) County Durham and Durham Local Education Authority.

He will help fill the skills gap in the region, which is being backed by The Northern Echo as part of its Working for a Future campaign.

Mr Cradock has been appointed as 14-19 project director with the two organisations and will manage initiatives related to learning for youngsters aged 14 to 19.

The 59-year-old said: "Young people aged 14 to 16 have to make their own very big decisions when they are at school and when they leave school, and one of the most important aspects of my job will be to try to keep these youngsters engaged in learning.

"We have to keep learning as flexible, relevant and as good as possible if we are to do this, and young people must be given all the guidance and advice they need to move themselves forward."

LSCs in County Durham and Tees Valley are carrying out a review of post-16 learning, supported by The Northern Echo, with the aim of boosting numbers of students in education and reducing the high percentage of North-East people lacking basic skills.

Mr Cradock has strong educational links in County Durham, having worked as a local inspector of schools and colleges for 20 years.

In 1999, he and his wife, Janet, began four years of volunteer work in the Pacific.

After teaching in a secondary school, they helped create the national curriculum for Papua New Guinea.