IF East Lancashire got a feather in its cap when the government picked schools in Blackburn and Darwen to be pioneers of its innovative Education Action Zone scheme to raise standards, then it got a even bigger one today for their success.

For the 22 schools in the zone - one of only a dozen nationwide selected to pioneer the project - were praised in person today by Prime Minister Tony Blair, as he visited Blackburn, for having "led the way for the whole country" when, together with Education Secretary David Blunkett, he launched the second phase of the EAZ scheme.

"I want many other areas to learn from your success, to follow your example," says Mr Blair in an exclusive article for the Lancashire Evening Telegraph tonight.

Praise, indeed. And, we are sure, it is merited by all who have worked to make the Blackburn with Darwen EAZ a model for others - from pupils and teachers to education chiefs and the business partners in the private sector who have backed it with their expertise and £250,000.

And despite East Lancashire's long-standing exploitation of partnership drive and initiative - in securing the region's economic regeneration and growth and in shaping its future - it is hard to find a finer example of community effort or a better goal than improving the education of its young generation.

For they are the region's future and its hope for making it even more successful in the new century now approaching. And that task- boosted by the government's backing for this EAZ into which £1 million is being ploughed - is a considerable one, as the new Blackburn with Darwen education authority discovered at the outset when an audit of education standards revealed worryingly low levels in many of its schools.

The need for this fightback and for a new initiative was clear. But the confirmation of its success in the EAZ's exciting grasping of the new approach and in coming up with their own solutions is proof that determined teamwork can reap real results.

And even if Mr Blair's praise for the Blackburn with Darwen EAZ's success is somewhat larded with the government's political necessity to switch the voters' and the media's gaze from its recent personality problems, we do not mind.

For despite the distraction of gossip-column politics, the improvement of education - and the benefits it brings to our young people and our community - is a goal that deserves the fullest effort and encouragement and the government's priority and extra resources for this must be given much credit for the success that Mr Blair comes to Blackburn to praise today.

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