THE BISHOP of Blackburn is to take charge of education for all the country's Church of England schools.

The Rt Rev Alan Chesters will take up the post of Chairman of the Board of Education of the General Synod in April, following the retirement of the Bishop of Ripon, the Rt Rev David Young.

As chairman of the Churches Joint Education Policy, the Bishop will speak on education matters for all the major denominations in the House of Lords, a role in which former chairmen of the board have been instrumental in amending successive education and related Acts of Parliament.

Bishop Chesters said: "I am very honoured and privileged to be asked to take on this position at this challenging time in education, both in the Church and the nation." He is particularly anxious to develop further links between schools in the maintained and independent sectors.

Bishop Chesters has an extensive background in education dating back to part-time teaching in two London schools in the mid-1960s.

He has headed a Religious Education department and served two schools as chaplain.

He served on the General Synod's Board of Education, and chaired its Schools Committee in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

A former chairman of the Blackburn Diocesan Board of Education, Bishop Chesters currently chairs the Board of Governors of the University College of St Martin in Lancaster, is a member of the Court of Lancaster University, a governor of Blackburn College, and chairs the Council of St Stephen's House, Oxford.

As chairman of the Synod's Board of Education, he will work closely with its secretary, Canon John Hall, the former Director of Education in the Blackburn Diocese.

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