Hello Lamberto Cardozo
Thank you for your very informative and insightful piece on primary
education in Goa.
Cornel DaCosta, London, UK.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lamberto Cardozo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, February 24, 2006 12:13 AM
Subject: [Goanet] Primary Education in Goa - English v/s Regional
Languages(Tomazinho Cardozo)
Primary Education in Goa - English v/s Regional Languages
By Tomazinho Cardozo
As per the reply given by Shri. Luizinho Faleiro, Minister for Education,
in
the Legislative Assembly of Goa, the Government has given permission to
start
12 new Primary schools in the state since January 2005. Out of these 12
schools, 10 are in English, 2 in Marathi and none in Konkani. We proudly
say
that our mother tongue is Konkani. We boast Konkani is the Official
Language
of Goa. But in reality, no parents want their children tohave their
primary
education in Konkani. This is the reason why we see today an increase of
10
schools in English medium, 2 in Marathi and none in Konkani.
Why Konkani medium schools are not patronized by Goans, is a very serious
matter. Majority of the parents who send their children to Konkani medium
schools find it very difficult because Konkani is taught in Devnagori
script
and the dialect used in the text books is not liked by them. Unfortunately
no
body wants to study this aspect which, according to me, is the base of
survival of Konkani medium schools in Goa. Secondly, Primary education has
not
been introduced in Goa because people love it but because there was no
option
but to accept it.
Konkani medium primary schools were introduced in Goa only in 1991. This
was
because the teachers teaching in privately managed English medium schools
filed a writ petition in the High Court demanding Government pay scales.
The
Hon. High Court accepted the demand of teachers and directed the
managements
of these schools to pay the teachers as per the Government pay scale. The
then
Goa Government, having a bias against English education, formulated a
policy
to give salary grants to the schools which opt for primary education in
regional languages, i.e. Konkani or Marathi. Overnight, majority of these
schools which were belonging to the Archdiocesan Board of Education, (ABE)
were converted into Konkani medium schools, that too in Devnagori script.
Since then the number of Konkani medium schools remained the same, i.e.
137
schools out of which 126 belong to ABE while the remaining 11 belong to
others. No other managements have made any efforts to opt for Konkani
medium,
or to start a new school in Konkani medium. On the contrary, they
preferred
education in English medium. It is for this reason that the number of
English
medium primary schools increased from 46 in 1994 to more than 100 in 2006.
Parents want their children to study in order that they (children) prepare
themselves to face the challenges of life when they grow up. Every parent
wishes that his/her child gets a good job after finishing his/her
education.
The language for getting jobs today is only English. It is not only in Goa
but
throughout India and abroad, it is only the English language which can
help
you to earn your daily bread. Hence all the regional languages in our
country,
including Konkani and Marathi in Goa, will find it very difficult to
survive.
Hence the future of the schools teaching through the medium of regional
languages in Goa, particularly Konkani medium schools, appears to be
bleak.
On analyzing the scenario of primary education in Goa, one finds that all
the
schools having Konkani medium today, were English medium schools prior to
1991. The number of students in these schools decreases year after year
and
simultaneously the number of English medium schools increases every year.
There are people wishing to establish English medium schools in every
village
of Goa. Two or three years back, when I was in service as Headmaster of
St.
Joseph's High School, Arpora, I received a letter from North Educational
Zone,
Mapusa, requesting me to give my say as one agency proposed to open an
English medium school in Arpora. I objected to the proposal and at the
same
time requested the authorities of North Educational Zone, Mapusa to give
permission to the management of St. Joseph's High School, Arpora to open
that
school if there was a genuine need. This was because St. Joseph's High
School
was an English medium school some years back. Due to this request the
proposal
did not see the light of the day. But how long are we going to block the
setting up of English medium schools when the people want them? Moving
against
the time will only make all these schools non-functional in times to come.
No one would like to study in a language in order to support its
promotion. On
the contrary the language in which one studies should support him to live
a
decent life. It is due to this reason that even poor people, do a lot of
sacrifices and send their children to English medium schools. Some months
back, while addressing the educationists at International Centre, Dona
Paula,
Chief Minister, Mr. Rane said that his personal opinion was to have
primary
education in English as the whole world has become a global village today
and
that English is the only effective link language. Mr. Rane is absolutely
right. Will the managements of these schools act? Will the Government have
a
fresh look at the medium of primary education in Goa? It is a crying need
of
the time and needs to be attended on priority basis. (ENDS)
