In the three years of following and covering the agitation to secure grants for primary schools which impart education in the English language, seldom have home truths, which we have been reporting, come home in such a strong, poignant manner, enough to drive any sensitive souls to tears. These home truths about the extent to which parents across faiths, but united in the quest for a good education for their children in English, sacrifice to get their off springs to schools, came to us because we went to their homes.
For our lead feature in our Review Section today, three of Herald’s reporters and some of our stringers, went armed with a clear brief to the villages across Mormugao, Ponda, Salcete and parts of Bardez to have conversations. It was also important to keep in mind that from the cobbler, to the snack seller to the truck driver, everyone is a possible parent. And without looking at their faiths, political aspirations or leanings, we had to ask them where they send their children and why they do so.
Team Herald came back with very moving stories and as they reported and wrote and sent them across to the desk, we realised that the answers to some of the most complex stories lie in simple conversations. They lie in the effort one takes to see people go about their daily lives. They lie in the images of mothers stepping out of their homes at 6.30 in the morning, in the blinding rain and carrying two children on a scooter from Assolna to Margao, to drop them off at an English school. You see the same images in Cortalim, in Ponda, in Dharbandora or in Parra. All through our travels we found some heart-warming stories. Of a snack seller in Dramapur, originally from Uttar Pradesh, who speaks Konkani at home but sends his children to an English medium school. Of a truck driver in Ponda who knows no English, but spends half his earnings to send his two children to English medium schools. Of a proud man in Assolna who did not go to the Gulf but bought a Tata Sumo car on loan to ferry children from Assolna, Velim and other villages and take them to English schools in Margao. Because of his efforts, mothers do not have to leave at 6.30 am to reach their children to schools and can now leave an hour later. Of a mother in Parra, who speaks Marathi but sends her son to an English school in Mapusa, because she believes that English is the way and learning it will have no effect on her son’s Marathi speaking skills, which he speaks at home anyway.
We salute these parents for giving themselves the answers. They did so because decisions came naturally to them, not clouded by politics or other banal calculations that have dominated the discourse over the Medium of Instruction. These parents have collectively answered the likes of Arvind Bhatikar, a former IAS officer, and his ilk – i.e. the BBSM members – who are steeped in hypocrisy and parochialism, and who said, “Who are the parents to have a choice?”
Throughout Goa sacrifices are made and children are sent away to other towns, at times with parents themselves shifting closer to school, even though there are government schools next door. Yes, parents have won the battle of where children should be sent and the medium of instruction they want. It is just that the government cannot or will not see this.
The travels across Goa were humbling. It told us how cruel is a government which doubts the sincerity of parents and calls them misled or worse still stooges of the Church. Not a single parent we met, from a tea stall owner, a truck driver or even a government servant, spoke to us as a temple goer, a church goer or a mosque goer. They had only one religion – parenthood.
This is a faith that no politician ever understands and those who are agitating to strike off grants for English schools do. Shame on them, because they may back a religion or fight against another but do not recognise the biggest faith of them all. Of aspirations of our next generation and the struggles of parents who will meet those aspirations no matter what. Thank you parents. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. For keeping faith of parenthood.
