Brussels, 17/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - At the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 14-15 February, the Russian chess champion, Garry Kasparov, spoke in favour of chess being played in schools in Europe. He called on MEPs to sign a written declaration presented on 30 November 2011 by several MEPs, on the introduction of the “Chess in school” programme into the education systems of the European Union. At this stage, just four more signatures are needed to allow the declaration to be adopted by the Parliament. The deadline is 30 March.
The “Chess in school” programme was designed to promote the game of chess in schools across Europe, by proposing chess programmes, chess software, chess teaching and communication material to encourage and motivate children to discover and learn the game. The declaration was presented by the MEPs John Attard-Montalto (S&D, Malta), Slavi Binev (independent, Bulgaria), Nirj Deva (ECR, UK), Mario Mauro (EPP, Italy) and Hannu Takkula (ALDE, Finland). (IL/transl.fl)