Team Herald
PANJIM: Amidst various issues concerning the education sector in Goa, right from the controversial medium of instruction and no-detention policy to inadequate infrastructure, the State is once again bestowed with an award in the education category by the India Today Group.
Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, who is already in New Delhi, will receive the award at a gala event held by the media group on Friday.
While Goa is one the most literate states, its education sector reels under several issues, from basic and proper infrastructure at educational institutions, to student-teacher ratio and the drop out rate, which was 28 percent in 2014.
The BJP government, while trying to settle the mid-day meal crises, which led to a few food poisoning incidents, is yet to resolve the contentious MoI policy. The policy, drafted and approved by the cabinet headed by then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, is yet to become a legislation.
The matter is pending before the State Legislative Assembly’s select committee for approval and incorporation in the Education Act.
The BJP, which promised an amicable solution to the MoI issue, is now in a tight spot, with Forum for Rights of Children to Education (FORCE) demanding to convert the policy into an Act and Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM) asking the government to stop grants to English medium schools.
On the no-detention policy, stakeholders had recommended amendment to Section 16 of the Right to Education Act, which states that no student shall be held back in any class or expelled from school till the completion of his or her elementary education, which is till Std VIII. Most parents and teachers are not in support of the no-detention policy.
The State was recently mired in yet another controversy over the one-year extension given to Goa University Vice Chancellor Dr Satish Shetye. A day before Dr Shetye was due to retire on attaining the age of 65, the government had issued an ordinance extending his tenure by a year despite Goa Governor and GU Chancellor Mridula Sinha rejecting the recommendation of the government to amend the GU Act. A social activist also moved the High Court of Bombay at Goa seeking intervention into the matter.
