A TEACHING aid that uses PlayStation-style consoles to help pupils is being tested in Bolton schools.

The Kinesthetic Interactive Teaching system (KIT) is currently being used at Mount St Joseph in Farnworth, and Bolton School.

It puts teachers in control of up to 30 wireless handsets, with pupils' answers being transmitted to a TV or projector screen.

KIT - which has been hailed as a major breakthrough by educationalists - is the brainchild of Bolton businessman John Blackburn, whose company, MMM Group, supplies multimedia entertainment technology to the leisure industry.

The company, base in the Globe Works in Lower Bridgeman Street, was founded in 1992. The family-run business evolved from software development.

Since 1997, MMM Group has experienced tremendous growth with a turnover rising from £296,026 in its first year, to an expected £1.75 million in 2004.

Mr Blackburn became involved in the education sector following his roles as chairman of Bolton e-Learning Foundation and vice-chairman of the borough's Literacy Trust.

He said: "I developed the basis of KIT by adapting our existing equipment to be both educational and fun.

"The easy-to-use system focuses on numeracy, literacy and music topics covered in a range of interactive games and quizzes, while other subjects include Key Stage Two science, history, French and geography."

The overall system is controlled by an infrared remote, while wireless handsets are used to play the games and quizzes.

Many of the formats are similar to well-known TV gameshows, such as Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Bullseye, and The Price is Right.

The system is daptable for children from reception age to the sixth form.

KIT systems can be customised by teachers using memory cards that can hold more than 200,000 quiz questions.