AN ARTIST has paid £20,000 to help build a school in India to save thousands of tigers from being killed by children who grow up to become poachers.

And this weekend wildlife artist Michael Jackson, 40, leaves his home near Preston to see the completed primary school block in Rajasthan where youngsters will be taught about conservation of endangered species.

"I want to educate the next generation," said Michael.

"I thought the best way forward to save tigers is to educate people in the benefits of eco-tourism."

The school is at Sawai Madhopur, in north west India, next to the Ranthambor National Park. It will take around 250 children in an area where illiteracy among children averages 76 per cent.

The primary block will be named The Michael Jackson School in honour of its benefactor and funded partly by paying students.

Two thirds of the school's students will pay tuition fees while the remaining students -- those from poorer sections of the community -- will receive free education.

Michael said: "There is going to be a very strong conservation message in the school.

"It will gear children to something they can do in their later life, something they can go into for employment and which will relate to the different aspects of community life.

"I had already raised this money from various events and I was wanting to look for somewhere to channel it. I wanted to do something that would make a real difference. I thought the only way to change things was by educating the next generation.

"Teaching the benefits that tourism can bring can only be a good thing. If we can get the message across that many tourists come to their country because of their wildlife then maybe people will stop poaching these beautiful animals."

The secondary section of the school, which will also teach regular subjects, has been paid for from various donations including cash from respected wildlife artist David Shepherd.

Michael's five-week trip, with his wife and son Miles, five, will also include visits to the southern part of the country where he will gather work for an exhibition, Aspects of India, at the Halcyon Gallery, Birmingham, next year.

This is not the artist's first effort to protect India's vast wildlife population. Last year he was invited to join members of the charity Care for Wildlife International, who work to stop the unnecessary killing of wild animals.

In a joint effort with the charity Michael established a legal team to prosecute poachers. Through their efforts several people have been jailed for hunting and killing protected animals.

"The last one to be prosecuted got six years," said Michael. "Six years in an Indian prison is no fun I can tell you. They are not like prisons here. He will face six years of hard labour.

"Poachers get about £30 for a whole tiger that retails in Hong Kong or Singapore for about £30,000. Every single part of it is used in alternative medicine.

"But £30 is a lot of money to someone who has nothing.

"Hopefully the prosecutions will serve as a deterrent to others."