PUPILS who defied all the odds to gain their qualifications have been rewarded at a special presentation ceremony.

The youngsters, who have been learning with the Education Otherwise Than At School (EOTAS) scheme, were presented with their basic skills qualifications and are now hoping for a bright future.

EOTAS provides education for pupils out of school within the Blackburn LEA, for pupils who do not attend school, such as pregnant girls, children in hospital, or children who have been excluded from school. They are taught by fully qualified teachers at units in Mill Lane, Blackburn.

Sixty-one Year 11 pupils, aged 16, have taken their Associated Examinations Board basic skills exams, and have completed their National Record of Achievement. Some have also taken their GCSE exams.

These pupils are now looking ahead, some with plans to continue work-based training at Blackburn College and Accrington and Rossendale College, while others are planning to progress on the Training 2000 scheme, a vocational course provided by Blackburn with Darwen Council.

EOTAS has been working alongside the youth services, social services, careers advisers and the police.

Mrs Margaret Nowell, teaching services co-ordinator for EOTAS, said: "These children are important, and a lot of them do extremely well.

"They are not rejects in any sense of the imagination. Blackburn is one of the few LEAS which have provided this much education for pupils out of school. These awards are something that Blackburn can be proud of."

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