One more Com to decide on MoI-Grants as BBSM-FORCE make it a poll issue
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 12 July 2016 20:51 ISTWith medium of instruction issue turning into election battle once again, Goa government has now appointed yet another committee, this time under Principal Bhaskar Nayak, to recommend on the question of giving grants to English medium private primary schools.
Announcing a 17-member committee of educationists, chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar said it would submit its report in 120 days (4 months).
This committee would also decide on whether to continue grants to 137 Church-run English medium primary schools or not.
“In view of this, the select committee would take appropriate decision about the bill pending before the Assembly”, said Parsekar.
The bill proposes an amendment to give grants to English medium primary schools run by minority institutions.
Few hours before CM made this announcement in Panaji, the Forum for Rights of Children’s Education (FORCE) announced in Margao that the parents would work against those parties and candidates who support withdrawal of grants to Church-run primary schools in English.
The RSS-led Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch has already announced that it would support only those candidates who support withdrawing grants to English medium primary schools.
Parsekar said the committee will revisit the issue with wider consultation.
Besides extensive consultations with all the stakeholders, the order issued in this regard stated that the committee would also visit neighbouring states of Konkan belt like Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala to study the socio-cultural dynamics of the matter in a wider perspective.
The committee will refer to various expert opinions worldwide and also consult social, economic, linguistic and cultural groups.
Except Nagaraj Honnekeri as the member secretary and Adv R G Ramani as a lawyer, all other members of the committee are educationists, as follows:
Kanta Patnekar, J R Rebello, Madhv Kamat, Celsa Pinto, Allan Abreu, Datta B Naik, Celso Dias, Anil Samant, Madhav Borkar, Uday Ballikar, Dilip Betkikar, Bhushan Bhave,, Edward D’lima and Prakash Paryekar.