A BUSINESSMAN is so passionate about modernising education he’s spent ten years and millions of pounds creating an online “school in a box” for parents and children.

The Help – Home Education Learning Platform – is for youngsters who have been expelled from school, are off due to long-term sickness, or for parents who choose to educate their children at home.

David Peters has taken the website from an ambitious dream to reality, although he admits it’s not been an easy task.

The 53-year-old has already set up the Purple Club in Southend – a not-for-profit organisation offering online courses for children who are in care, not at school or being home schooled.

He said: “We have recently launched the programme and it’s taken off really well. Already it’s being used in schools and by parents all over the country.

“It’s taken a lot of time, hard work and money, but it’s something myself and my colleagues have always believed in.

“In a nutshell, this is for hard-to-reach kids. For a number of reasons, children can be in and out of school today, due to sickness or exclusion.

“A lot of parents have concerns over bullying and now opt to educate their children at home.

“This programme brings home-learning to a new level. As far as we know this is unique – there’s nothing out there like this.

“There’s no need for parents to spend out on textbooks and software like they did in the past. The only thing needed is access to the internet and a computer. It can even be an old banger, as long as it works.”

Through the touch of a button parents can have access to a multitude of online resources.

These include classes in core subjects for children aged from four to 16, online tutors, specified tests, encyclopedias, revision tools and news streaming sites, all coinciding with the national curriculum.

Children can join forums, set up their own planners and diaries and even take a test to find out what their best learning method is.

“Whichever way they learn best, for example, audio visually or mathematically and logically, the lessons are automatically set up to cater for them,” said David.

“Mums and dads can also set their children homework and can see if it’s done – even if they are sitting at their desks at work somewhere.

“They can log on and see what their children are doing and how they are doing with their work.”

David has spent years carving out a successful business career. He also founded the education firm eZeSchools Limited – which is run from his offices in Aviation Way, Rochford.

The father-of-three, who lives in Southend, added: “Everything is different these days. We live in the age of technology. Kids have MTV, mobile phones and Xboxes.

“There’s no point giving them a pen and paper and expecting them to learn the same way we did 40 years ago.

“In the 1960s England was leading the way in education, we had the best system in the world. Now, unfortunately, our education system hasn’t moved on as fast as society.”

The Help programme can also be used by adults wanting to refresh themselves on the core subjects, as well as a support tool for parents wanting to get their children through the 11-plus exam.

“Some parents spend hundreds of pounds on tutors and private classes, but it’s all here at the click of a button,” said David.

“Years ago, before I designed this system, I was trying to help my daughter with her maths homework. I had done maths A-level myself years ago. I said to her ‘this is how you do it’ and she said ‘no it’s not’.

“We ended up having an argument.

“If I’d had access to something like this programme, I could have gone online and seen the way maths is being taught today. We have to move with the times.”

The Help programme costs £19.99 a month for unlimited access.

“If you weigh that up against private tutors and all sorts it’s nothing,” added David, who was born in Southend.

“I think we have become a nation obsessed with testing children. We test them like it’s going out of fashion.

“But if you keep weighing a pig, it’s not going to get any fatter.

“If we introduce children to the fun in learning then half the job is done.”

David is also keen to reform education in the prison system.

“Over 66 per cent of young offenders in prison have a reading age of under ten – that’s scary,” he said.

“Statistics show most of these people will reoffend within a month of being released, but if they have education, training and a job, they tend to stay on the straight and narrow.”

For more information log on to www.eteachme.co.uk