Pupils from Shawlands Academy, Glasgow, Trinity High School, Renfrew, and Dalziel High School in Motherwell will battle it out in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s national schools public speaking competition.

The final will take place on 5 June in Parliament House, Edinburgh. And the topic which the pupils will have to master is: “Charity Begins…”

Each team has been advised that their speech should outline as a team the type of Scottish-based equalities charity they would establish, who for and what its aims would be.

In closely-contested semi-finals, Shawlands Academy defeated George Heriot’s High School, Edinburgh, Dalziel High School overcame Dunfermline High and Trinity High School came out on top over Thurso High School.

This is the second year in succession Shawlands have reached the final. The competition started in Glasgow in 2012 and quickly became popular with pupils and teachers.

It represents part of the work done by Scotland’s prosecution service to improve understanding of equality and diversity issues. It is also part of the service’s strategy to reach out to communities and young people in Scotland and engage them in healthy discussion and debate on important issues related to the work of COPFS.

This year’s competition has involved 98 teams from 61 schools across Scotland. The outcome of the final will rest on the judges: Lisa Gillespie, deputy principal crown counsel; crown agent, John Logue, and Carol Burt, project manager of IAMME.