I respect and uphold the importance of the mother tongue, in my case, Konkani.But in my opinion, having it as the medium of instruction (MoI) in schools, "uptil standard V, and preferably till standard VIII" (as per the government directives), is a rubbish move!
Given a choice, I would say that parents should insist on English as the MoI, and Konkani to be a compulsory subject throughout, with a mandatory clause stating that failure in Konkani would mean repeating the class.By forcing Konkani to be the MoI, we would only be putting a boundary on the students future.
I'm not saying that we should rear our children only for placement overseas, but we should realise and recognize the fact that today even a career in Goa/India, actually spans the globe. Businesses today have employees, vendors, partners, and customers, scattered multinationally.
This has nothing to do with disrespect for one's culture and roots, but it has everything to do with a students future.
Now don't get me wrong; English definitely cannot be considered as a measure of intelligence. However, in today's day and age, the English language is considered as the language of global brotherhood and is also (unofficially) known as the international language of business.
English puts most people (globally) on a common platform, both professionally and socially; the internet and social media is in English!
From this viewpoint, it is, needless to say, whether you like it or not, that the better the quality of your English, the higher on the professional and/or the social ladder you will obviously get.
As for the language issue in question, I am a strong supporter of English as the MoI. But that being said, I also believe that the mother-tongue should be given its due importance and respect.
Konkani (mother-tongue) should also be a compulsory subject from the beginning, with an inflexible clause that failing in Konkani (at any standard) will cause the student to repeat the standard altogether.
In order to give Konkani the importance and the respect that it rightly deserves, it could be put on a different pedestal by establishing a different marking and passing percentage for only Konkani. For example: if the passing marks for other subjects is 35%, then for Konkani it should be made 60%.
This kind of an arrangement would not only ensure that the students do not miss out on the immense benefit of the English language, but will also generate more focus towards Konkani, keeping the students planted firmly in their roots.
The Konkani language is a definite "must-teach", but not as the MoI. That would restrict the scope of any student in such a way where only those students who learn English naturally will advance. (When I say "naturally", I mean in the family where everyone speaks English).
In order to preserve our links to our rich culture, it would be imperative to stress on our students also taking language-studies seriously. Because, if we look at it from a practical POV, then literature, history, culture-studies, anthropology, etc., are also subjects that people make significant careers out of.
So yes, English MoI, with substantial emphasis on other languages too.