Educating Goa Isidore Domnick Mendis Dear Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu Parrikar Bab With literacy rate of 87.4%, Goa occupies fourth position as one of the top literate States of India. According to Government of India Census 2011 report in the list of the first ten literate States only Kerala , Mizoram, Tripura rank above Goa while Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Nagaland, Manipur grade below it . However this glee turns into despondency when one looks at vital schooling index be it the dropout rate in schools or the enrolment rate in higher education . Education experts on schooling believe that out of the total enrolment at primary level only 29 percent students opt for higher education. Sometime back even the records of the Department of Education (DoE) indicated that as high as 2,000 students drop out before completing the high school.
Significantly in rural areas and far away country sides of talukas like Pernem, Quepum, Canacona, Sattari, Bicholim, Sanguem, Ponda etc the dropout rate is high. In these regions the effect of transition from 5th standard connected with medium of instruction from either Konkani or Marathi to English onwards is felt more. Parrikar Bab, one completely agrees with you that the charm which one finds in one’s own mother tongue cannot be found in a foreign language . Yes we need to preserve, protect and propagate Konkani the official language of our Goa and the mother tongue of us Goans. It is also important to remember that for ages Konkani in Roman script is crying for official recognition. Goans in large numbers spread all across the globe have full faith that your government run by BJP the Party with a difference will pave the way for Konkani in Roman script finally getting its official recognition. We cannot dilute an indispensable fact that English is a global language whose relevance cannot be undermined. Mother tongue can be properly and better spoken in our daily conversation especially in our homes and social gatherings. It will be an opportune idea to have English also introduced from the 1st standard onwards for all boys and girls studying either in Konkani or Marathi medium schools in Goa. With the passage of time there has been steady deterioration in the quality of our teachers. The lack of knowledgeable, dedicated and value ingrained teachers coupled with underdeveloped school infrastructure , emphasis on rote learning etc has also led to students failing and eventually dropping out of school. We are not doing better either on pre vocational and vocational aspect of school education. Three years back in 8th to 10th standard, the DoE had introduced pre vocational subjects agriculture, mushroom cultivation, plumbing, electrical repairs and home science. Education experts believe hardly any progress has taken place on prevocational education because only 2-3% of the schools have such courses. Presently, Goa has 43 Higher Secondary Schools which impart 15 vocational courses like computer software application, maintenance of electronic and electric domestic appliances, auto engineering technology, office secretaryship and stenography, accountancy and auditing, marketing salesmanship and management, commercial garment designing and making, catering and restaurant management, industrial management, insurance, healthcare assistant, horticulture, tourism and travel techniques, electronic technology. Parrikar Bab, you are a firm believer that teachers cannot be appointed on contract basis and they should be taken on full time basis. The fixed security of tenure is absolutely imperative even for technical teachers. It has been observed that the vocational courses generally offered in the designated higher secondary school are not in tune with the requirements of the local industry. The management of schools too has to be proactive in order to see which courses would fulfil the needs of the local industry. Schools in Goa can take a leaf out from St Alex Higher Secondary School at Curtorim which is doing a laudable work. This institution provides courses in electronic , technology , catering and restaurant management that cater to the requirement of local areas like the industrial town of Verna and the abode of Star hotels the Salcette Taluka . As a result almost all its students who have no aptitude or inclination for higher education after 10th or 12th are easily absorbed by nearby industries and foreign passenger and cargo ships in overseas. There is a provision that the Director of Education has a power to introduce non formal technical course under Sec 18 of Goa School Education Rules 1986 which states: ”The Director may in consultation with an expert committee appointed by him specify the courses of study for imparting informal education to persons who are unable to attend any recognised school for obtaining formal education” The idea behind formal non technical courses was to minimise the high school dropout rate. Sadly, in this regard the DoE has not yet formulated any scheme. I hope Parrikar bab you will invoke short term non formal technical courses extending from three to six months relating to hotel industry, carpentry, plumbing, tailoring etc on the lines as were conducted earlier by Rural Development Agency ( RDA) under the “TRYSEM Scheme”. This provision of under Sec 18 of Goa School Education rules can be worked on a : Public, Private Partnership model (PPP) by inviting industries, industrialists, NGOs and school management. Today we Goemkars are fortunate to have a highly educated person , an ex IITian as our Chief Minister and Education Minister . The 2012 BJP manifesto talks about promoting “Goa as an educational hub by starting world class educational courses” but before pursuing that dream thehigh rate of school dropout needs to be stymied. Parrikar bab under your overall guidance the DoE and the Directorate of Industry (DoI) needs to work in close conformity for the success of both formal and non formal vocational courses in schools of Goa. Otherwise many of these school dropouts like before would again turn up as nervous wreck and frustrated beings and add the already elephantine unemployment list of niz Goemkars.
