SIXTH formers in East Lancashire are to share in a £15million-plus bonanza as a new era dawns for classroom teenagers.

The Learning and Skills Council -- launched this year by Prime Minister Tony Blair to be responsible for all post-16 education in England outside the university sector -- announced its plans for funding sixth forms with a pledge to pump an extra £900,000 into Lancashire schools, an increase of 6.4 per cent on last year.

Steve Palmer, executive director of the Learning and Skills Council Lancashire, said: "We fully recognise the value of school sixth forms in raising the learning achievements of young people and we look forward to working with them to meet the challenging targets set by government."

And David Whyte, headteacher at St Wilfrid's CE High, Blackburn -- the town's 11 to 18 years Church of England State school -- added: "We are looking forward to the new funding regime in the hope that it will bring additional resources to help us meet the challenges of the new post-16 curriculum introduced last year."

The Learning and Skills Council says the funding for East Lancashire sixth forms in schools will be available from next April, and is part of a national initiative to create a "fair, simple and coherent" financing system. The council in Lancashire will be responsible for funding sixth forms from April through local education authorities Lancashire County Council and Blackburn with Darwen Council.

In Lancashire, provisional figures based on last year's pupil count indicate that the 19 sixth forms in secondary schools will share more than £15million from April 2002 to April 2003 -- an increase of £900,000.

Steve Palmer said: "The changes announced today represent the final piece on the jigsaw in enabling the Learning and Skills Council to bring a co-ordinated approach to the funding, planning and quality assurance of post-16 education in Lancashire, including school sixth forms, further education colleges, sixth-form colleges, work-based learning and adult and community learning.

"These changes reflect a wide-ranging consultation exercise by the Department for Education and Skills."

Mark Pattison, director of Education and Lifelong Learning at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: "We welcome the opportunity to work with the Learning and Skills Council to build on the excellent work that has been done to date to further improve the provision of sixth-form education in schools in the area."

The Learning and Skills Council is trying to raise the proportion of 16 to 18--year-olds in education and training from 75 per cent to 80 per cent by 2004.

Schools will have until February to discuss and agree their funding in the light of the new school year pupil count.