Education Committee, 17 Jan 2007

Meeting date: Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Official Report 234KB pdf

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European Commission Work Programme 2007

We move on to our final agenda item.

Members will have in their papers a copy of a letter from the convener of the European and External Relations Committee and a paper from the Parliament's European officer highlighting the key areas of the Commission's work programme for the Scottish Parliament. There is little activity that relates to this committee's remit, but do members have any comments?

The only things that I spotted that might be of interest are the European qualifications framework and possibly the European institute of technology and the Erasmus programme. However, I am not sure whether the Erasmus programme referred to is the international student exchange programme.

I think that it is the student exchange programme.

I would like the committee to be kept up to date with developments. I was expecting to see some more work on the development of the international baccalaureate, as there is a lot of general interest in that, but it is not mentioned.

I am sure that we can ask the European officer to keep us up to date with progress on qualifications, which is important. If members are content, I will write to the convener of the European and External Relations Committee on those terms.

It is extremely important that we keep a dialogue, because the bodies involved are going to be enormously powerful and probably have enormous sums of money to disperse throughout Europe. Keeping closely in touch can do no harm.

Those comments conclude today's meeting. Next week we will take further evidence on the implementation of the teachers agreement.

Class dismissed.

Meeting closed at 11:51