"OUR greatest concern is - and will always be - that the standard of written English and numeracy among our young adults is lacking and doesn't serve society well.

"That's a sweeping generalisation, of course. But the concern is shared by lecturers and would-be employers alike."

Those words first appeared in this column on August 14, 2002, as nervous students in the two counties awaited their A-level results.

The point was made as we questioned whether education's exam system - driven by the need to fuel league tables - was serving the country well.

Our view was that it wasn't. The only thing that mattered, we felt, was that the nation's workplaces were fuelled with a new generation of employees capable of providing the standards and expertise we all needed to see, whether that was among our street-cleaners or our brain surgeons.

Today, we're delighted beyond description to greet the biggest shake-up in education and skills ever to hit Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

It comes in an annual £105m package that aims to wipe out adult illiteracy and ensure workers are trained to do their job to the best of their ability.

If that sum seems staggering, then you should pause, re-read today's Front Page story and take in the depth of the literacy problem uncovered by the Learning and Skills Council. Then it might not sound so astronomical.

For £105m, read opportunity, hope and self-respect. In the social history of the two counties, we'd argue, few things have been more important to our future health and wealth.