A PROPOSED education shake-up in Burnley will not solve the area's allocation problems, according to the rebel mums who formed a breakaway school.

The education authority proposals, which will end the current policy of sending pupils to the high school nearest to their home, have been largely welcomed.

Under the plans, children will be sent to the school which specialises in the subject areas they are best at.

Three schools are initially set to be transformed by the end of 2003, if the Government gives the go-ahead, with more following suit after 2003.

But the parents who launched the DIY School after their children were refused places at schools of their choice say the new scheme will do nothing for their cause.

Donna Wolfenden decided to remove her son, Daniel, from mainstream education after he was refused a place at Habergham High.

Like many of the mothers at the DIY School, Donna, 30, of Allerton Drive, feels the proposals are missing the point.

She said: "We want our children to go the local schools which can give our children what they need.

"We don't want our children traipsing all over town just because the education system isn't right in Burnley."

Donna insists that the three schools closest to her home, Habergham, Ivy Bank and Gawthorpe are already capable of meeting their children's educational needs.

The move by Lancashire County Council, which is now in the consultation stage, represents a sea change in the way education is provided in the borough.

Ivy Bank High School could become a specialist college for business and enterprise, while St Theodore's RC High School could be given sports college status and a city learning centre would be created at Towneley High School.

An existing review of the over-provision of primary school places in Burnley will also be brought under the review.

Two primary schools -- Cherry Fold and Burnley Wood -- will benefit from neighbourhood learning centres, which are designed to promote education within the whole community.

Other projects involving the county council include encouraging adults from different communities to mix through workshops and making sure that when resources, such as grants, are directed to large minority group areas, the reasons are made clear.