Parrikar to head Edu Council to decide MoI issue
GOANEWS & PTI, PANAJI | 25 June 2013 18:49 IST
Goa government has once again announced that the long-awaited education advisory council would be formed by 10 July, to study and resolve the vexed issue of medium of instruction (MoI) in primary schools across the state.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who is also Education Minister, would chair the Council.
It would take a final decision on the controversial Medium of Instruction issue within three months.
Parrikar told reporters yesterday that the Council will have eminent educationists, who will also advice the government on effective implementation of Right to Education (RTE) Act.
Goa had witnessed protests in past with a section of people demanding that Konkani-Marathi should be the MoI, while another quarter wanted that English should be MoI.
The Chief Minister said the Council, which would be formed under section 34 of the RTE, will decide on the issue, which has been staring at the Goa government since last two years.
Then Congress-led government faced strong criticism after it gave grant to 137 schools of English medium and also resulted into the downfall of the Congress government, as it was one of the vital issues during Assembly election held in March last year.
The BJP, as the opposition party, was on the forefront along with the Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch, opposing salary grants to the 130 English medium schools, run by the Church.
After coming to power, the BJP-led governmen by Manohar Parrikar continued with the Congress policy, inviting the wrath of Konkani-Marathi protagonists.
Parrikar said the grants would continue only for one year and the Council would then decide about the MoI issue.
However, the government continued grants even for the second year and has now announced that the Council would be formed to decide the issue.
Language should not be made an issue -there is a lot to gain from every language ,in terms of the literature in that language, english was forced on us and many countries and that is how it is an international language today , that does not mean any other language is inferior to it . For ex. tamil language has the maximum books written (even compared to english) . Every indian should learn at least one language from a different state , it opens the door to knowledge .