From: [email protected] >>>Tony D'Sa wrote: <<<Unfortunately, 20 years down the line, the experiment to introduce Konkani as the medium of Instruction has failed miserably since the biggest votary of Konkani MOI - The Diocesan Society of Education and the extended ArchDiocesan Board of Education - has decided it was all a big mistake. Without the support of the DSE and the ABE, support for primary education in Konkani MOI collapses. **Dear Tony, Where is it written by church authorities that the experiment of teaching Konkani as the medium of instruction "has failed miserably"? The Church will propose the "demands" of the parents to the Government. Then, something revised and improved may come. But why should the whole process, that was followed reasonably, for years be thrown out? There should be revision of books and methods. There is no need to teach all subjects in Konkani in advanced classes.
<<<In other countries and within our own country, in states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu, one can study from KG to Ph D without the support of any other language. Can this be done in Konkani MOI except perhaps in subjects like languages? **I would not advise anyone to do all the higher studies in Konkani, except about Konkani literature itself. The Government should cater to those students with new strategies. <<The issue of education in primary school in Konkani in the Devnagri Script needs to be settled and the bogeys surrounding the Roman Script Konkani should be stilled once and for all. Wasn't Konkani sustained by the writings of Konkani writers in the Roman Script through the 450 years of Imperialistic, colonial rule? **I think that Konkani should be taught in both scripts, Devnagri and Roman, and both should be recognized. What is important is to develop the Konkani language. Otherwise, Konkani may be assimilated to Marathi and disappear in the belly of Maharasthra. <<<Why should we be running dog lackeys of the Marathi lobby which insists on the Devnagri Script to subjugate a section of the Goan populace, the very section that kept Konkani alive through the 450 years they were under the foreign yoke? **Konkani has been developed by missionaries in the Roman script in the past, and till today it is maintained by Goan writers. A Goan, wherever his family may be, is always exposed to Konkani. In Goa, even those who speak English at home and had English as medium of instruction, are exposed to Konkani and speak Konkani. Today, one married lady, who has studied in English medium school in Margao, and is sending her children to English medium school, hurt her toe, unwillingly of course, by dashing against a chair, and immediately exclaimed: "Avois!" I reminded her of her English background and told her that her interjection in Konkani proves that her language is Konkani, not English. This is true of most parents who are demanding English as medium of instruction for their children--they speak Konkani at home, but try to speak English (mostly "broken") with their children and dogs!... Regards. Fr.Ivo
