It was in the late 90’s when I said to my ex-headteacher that I would love to see chess as a subject in schools, for all the known reasons why children would benefit from it. – There are many entries on my blog about research and the benefits of chess – in the ‘search’ box you can type key words and you should find about 10 entries-or even more about the benefits of chess. You can read similar/same entries on many other sites too. Research conducted by various people from various countries in different/same areas has shown the same results. There is no doubt that chess, not only help children with all subjects in school [including reading!], but also support children in building/developing their skills for life. The fact that the European Parliament has made this decision, is great news for chess and chess-lovers all over the world!
“This is a historical success for the European chess. The date of March 13th, 2012 will go down in chess history as the date when the game of chess advanced to a higher level of recognition by the society – not just like sport, but also like a part of education in the modern world.” – said Mr. Silvio Danailov, the President of the European Chess Union.
The President of the European Chess Union Mr. Silvio Danailov was applauded by all the MEPs for the success of the ‘Chess in School’ Declaration. This happened during the official parliamentary session at the EU Parliament where Mr. Danailov was invited as a special guest and presented by the Bulgarian MEP Mr. Slavi Binev. The President of the EU Parliament, Mr. Martin Schulz officially announced from the rostrum that the Written Declaration 50/2011 about Chess in School was endorsed by the EU Parliament.
After the session, some of the MEPs said to Mr. Danailov that the acceptance of the Declaration is really a great success, because the EU MEPs usually adopt only small number of Declarations, 10-15% of them. The final number of the MEPs who have signed the Written Declaration 50/2011 is 415.
Silvio Danailov, Bulgarian MEP Slavi Binev and the chess legend Garry Kasparov, also gave an official press conference, which reached audience on 250 national TV stations from Europe and the world. All activities and events connected to the project “Chess in school” were held under the high patronage of the previous President of the European Parliament, prof. Jerzy Buzek and Mr. Slavi Binev, who is the main supporter of the project and who introduced the Written Declaration 50/2011. During the press conference, Mr. Danailov gave a special award to Mr. Binev for his big contribution to the acceptance of the Written Declaration. MEPs John Attard-Montalto and Hannu Takkula, who were among the strongest supporters of the project, also took part in the press conference.
The Written Declaration will officially be communicated from the Parliament to the Commission and to the Parliament of each EU Member State together with the list of signatories.
The Declaration calls on the Commission and Council:– To encourage the introduction of the program ‘Chess in School’ in the educational system of the Member States;
– To pay, in its forthcoming communication on sport, the necessary attention to the program ‘Chess in School’ and to ensure sufficient funding for it from 2012 onwards;
– To take into consideration the results of any studies on the effects of this program on children’s development.
The development and implementation of the program will be carried out as a joint project between the European Chess Union and Kasparov Chess Foundation Europe.
Source: Please click HERE for the site of EUROPECHESS
Toasting success! Garry Kasparov, Silvio Danailov and the team celebrate. Image: chess.com
Chessalee 