CM raps invited Konkani-Marathi primary school managements on MoI
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 22 April 2016 23:21 IST
“Ask for what you want rather than what you don’t want,” Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar today told the managements of private primary schools run in regional languages like Konkani and Marathi.
The sarcastic statement made by Parsekar was obviously in the background of the ongoing agitation on the issue of Medium of Instruction, demanding to withdraw grants to English medium Church-run schools.
“The government is bound by certain compulsions and under no circumstances we will detract from our decision”, he told the Konkani-Marathi medium managements, without making direct mention of BJP government’s policy on MoI.
According to information, none of the Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch leaders, who attended the meeting as private school managements, raised a word against CM’s stand.
They included RSS leader Subhash Desai, BBSM leader Pandurang Nadkarni and others.
Managements of Konkani and Marathi medium primary schools however demanded additional grants of Rs 5 lakh to the new primary schools, in addition to the new policy of Rs 400 per month behind every student.
Demand has also been made to start Konkani DEd to train teachers for the increasing number of Konkani primary schools, both government and private.
Parsekar has however agreed to only add some more items in the list of admissible items for which the government funding could be utilised.
Several managements, who attended the meeting convened by the CM to discuss modalities of his budgetary scheme, however told Parsekar that the new scheme would benefit only the established schools in the cities and not the newly started struggling schools in the villages.
The government has replaced its 2012 scheme of giving a grant of Rs 12 lakh for infrastructure and then Rs one lakh each for five years.
Nadkarni demanded that the new struggling schools may be given Rs 5 lakh, since the new scheme of Rs 400 would not benefit them due to less number of students.
Prashant Naik, President of Nirakar Education Society, suggested that the staffing pattern of providing teacher behind certain number of students be altered.
He requested the government to reduce the number from 20 to 15 for one teacher and four teachers for 60 students instead of 104 students.
Before deciding to give grants to the schools, whether, they are English, Konkanni or marathi medium, the government should focus more on the Teachers Training Institutes in Goa. These institutes boast of high standards, but in reality, it is a sham and a shame to be a witness to the standard of many teachers in a lot of our schools.
This is a clear case of " Khorpotta eke kodden anik Khorpitta boldech kodden"
In short .... HAVE BETTER INSTITUTES TO PRODUCE QUALITY TEACHERS.