On glancing through Sunday’s edition of Herald dt. 3 January, the ‘edit’ page particularly caught my eye with regard to the “Medium Of Instruction”, ie. the letter “Princes of Polarisation” so well written by Joel Morais of Cuncolim and another article appearing elsewhere on the same page, and furthermore Fr. Victor Ferrao’s article in “Voice of Opinion”.
In this connection I would like to reiterate that if the BBSM’s demand is granted and that of FORCE disregarded by the government, it will most certainly spell doom for the poor aspiring children in Goa, ie. for those who don’t really have a choice (how could their very foundation in the English language not be destroyed as a result of having a different language at first as their MoI from Grade 1st to 4th, and subsequently switching to English as their MoI from Grade 5th onwards). I have been working in the Arabian Gulf for the last more than 36 years, and my experience here has proved beyond doubt about how many of our poor Goan brethren have been at the receiving end, by being obliged to do menial jobs with no scope for progress whatsoever, purely due to the lack of proficiency in the English language, which also might very well be the only reason why they weren’t able to pursue further higher studies in the first place.
I wish the so-called “intellectuals” would carry out a survey to actually determine how many of their own 75% have already passed out through, and are still studying in schools which have the “Medium Of Instruction” in English, in comparison to those who studied/are still studying with their MoI in other languages.
I bet the statistics would be appalling, or astonishing at the least. Why then are they still bragging about grants ONLY to schools having MoI in Konkani, and of late some genius has even requested for the same in Marathi. Are they in a position to provide lucrative jobs, or any decent jobs for that matter to Goans in Goa? I am neither against Konkani nor Marathi being the MoI but why not provide grants to all and thereby give a fair opportunity for the poor students/parents to decide what is best for them? English just happens to be the “default” language in demand and no one can deprive innocent students/children of opting for the same.
I would like to state that a couple of weeks ago, I was having my lunch at a Rajasthani restaurant in Abu Dhabi and was pleasantly surprised to hear 2 guys at the next table happily chatting in Marathi; wonderful! A couple of months ago I was having my dinner at another Indian restaurant which specializes in “Hyderabadi Biryani” (also in Abu Dhabi), and I was even more pleasantly surprised to hear two of my fellow Goans converse in Konkani; even more wonderful! And do you know what? I was able to fluently converse with all four guys in their respective languages. The “icing on the cake” was to eventually know that all 5 of us (if I may humbly include myself in the list) are holding responsible and good positions (well remunerated indeed) in the local companies having shareholding with international companies. I was both, curious and not surprised, to know that all 5 of us had passed out through schools which still have their “Medium Of Instruction” in English! (not just from the 1st to 4th grades but right through).
Need I say more?
