THE headmaster of a top North Yorkshire private school wants to give back power to parents, in a revolutionary vision for the revival of British education.

Father Leo Chamberlain, of Ampleforth College, near Helmsley, said he despaired of the result of many years of political changes in education by both Conservative and Labour Governments.

His solution is to hand financial power to parents, through a voucher system which would mean the best schools would prosper and set a standard the rest would have to try to match.

He said in a television interview to be broadcast on Sunday: "Thousands of millions of pounds have been poured into education - but there are a quarter of a million illiterate 11-year-olds in this country.

"It is not good enough. Goodwill and good intentions at the centre of Government are not enough."

Father Leo believed his solution would not simply result in a private schools system, with the richest parents buying the best education, saying it would instead give all parents the power at present already enjoyed by the wealthy.

"At the moment the people who get the real choice of schooling in the state sector are those who can choose where they live," he said.

"I can see no difference between buying a more expensive house to get the school you want than in choosing to pay fees at a school like Ampleforth."

His recipe for the future of schools would be accompanied by a return of educational values he maintained were in danger of being lost, but are still fiercely maintained at Ampleforth.

"I want to help our young people to a life of faith and virtue. Faith in their belief in God, virtue in the way they lead their lives - honesty, truthfulness, caring for others, contributing to our society."

Those values would be reinforced by getting rid of what he called "child-centred education".

He said: "There must be a restoration throughout of teaching in its fundamental and traditional reality. There has to be a degree of formality."

The interview can be seen at 2.05pm on Sunday on ITV1 Tyne Tees.

Updated: 10:50 Tuesday, September 16, 2003