A MAJOR education drive is expected to stem the flow of North-East youngsters in care leaving school with no qualifications.
Almost two thirds of children in the care of Durham County Council's social services department currently leave school without any GCSEs or GNVQs.
The Government target is for 75 per cent of youngsters leaving care to have at least one of these qualifications by September 2003.
Durham County Council is working to raise the youngsters' educational standards from the current figure of 35 per cent.
It has encouraged schools to have personal action plans for each child in care with teachers attending social services reviews. Each children's home also has an education link worker to support school work and liaise with education colleagues.
The council's executive committee will discuss more ways forward today before Friday's policy launch.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article