While I absolutely agree with what the WSJ is saying, there is a separation of the effect of Portuguese education when you talk about Goa.
Whatever newspapers or VM says, from my own experience I know that Portuguese education in Goa was of the highest quality. This from an individual (myself) who had no connection with any Goa education. You can fault the Portuguese with not making it easily accessible not only in terms of cost but also in terms of social classes but definitely not in terms of quality. Not that the British in India were perfect in this respect but they were that much better. What I am saying is that the British India educated gentleman or professional was no better equipped for a good future life than was his Portuguese Goa counterpart. Now coming to modern day Portugal yes, the rate of educated youth is the lowest in Europe but that is due as much to the inherently lower value assigned to education which in turn was fed by economic opportunity in menial labor available to them in the rest of that continent. In Goa two forces met and blessed the people. The high ideal of education inherent in the Goan people and the high quality of education when available. I would have liked a third blessing to have come into play - that of easy access - but alas for the wishes of mice and men, to twist a famous phrase. In India today, quality is absolutely lacking except in elite academia and and access too is so highly competitive that it is virtually unavailable in many urban centers and even more rural outbacks. Suicide is an acceptable risk that parents take. That never happened in Portuguese Goa, though it might be not all totally fair to compare different ages as VM has done. Roland. Toronto. Sent from Samsung Mobile -------- Original message -------- From: V M <[email protected]> Date: 31-03-2014 11:09 PM (GMT-05:00) To: goanet <[email protected]> Subject: [Goanet] Portuguese education It is widely known and accepted that Portugal is "the least educated country in Europe", and has remained so for hundreds of years, besides another severe setback relative to other Western countries during the Salazar years. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704076804576180522989644198 "The repressive dictatorship that ruled Portugal from 1926 to 1974 had the idea "that people should not have ambition to be something different than what they were," Mr. Nóvoa says. The result was widespread illiteracy and little formal schooling; just three years were compulsory. Huge leaps have been made since the 1970s, he says, but "it is not easy to change a history of five centuries.""
