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Item 4 is a paper seeking the committee's agreement to hold an event to mark Europe day on Friday 9 May. As members will note from the clerk's paper, the Scottish Parliament has marked the occasion in previous years, and the proposal for 2008 is for a conference for young people relating to the European Union's development policies. It is hoped that the report from the conference will be used as evidence for the committee's inquiry into international development. Do members have any comments on that suggestion?
I think that it is a very good idea, and I very much welcome the proposal. Somewhere in the clerk's paper there is something about
A parliamentary region.
Is there any scope for extending that? There are not many regions.
Would one school from each local authority be better?
I do not know about the numbers.
Would we be able to accommodate that? Not all local authorities will necessarily want to send someone. My own local authority is very interested in the matter, but it has never been selected in the past under the regional system.
I imagine that it is an issue of practicalities and of how many people can be accommodated. The clerks will look into the matter. Does Jim Johnston have a firm view on it now?
We do not have a firm view—it was just a suggestion. We are trying to get a broad sweep across Scotland—we are certainly happy to reconsider the matter and see whether there are other options.
There would be a problem with inviting schools by local authority because of the way in which local authorities were set up—by people I will not name. They are so varied in size that such an approach could give bias—it could increase the chances of some schools over those of others.
We will work with and take advice from the education department.
The point has been taken on board.
We will update members as the programme develops.
Meeting continued in private until 11:47.
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