Goa needs a People’s policy before other policies
As Goa was basking in its self-proclaimed joy of introducing an investment policy, which will soon be followed by a tourism policy with an industrial policy waiting in the wings and a civil aviation policy ready to take flight, came some important news. The Human Resource Development Ministry’s national educational development index which some would argue placed Goa higher than the position it achieved last year. But that hardly is the point.
The fine print shows that critical indices of development that separates a great state from a good one and a good one from a bimaru (sick) one, don’t quite favour Goa. The figures you will just read do not surprise those who spend time away from Panjim and in the remote villages. But for many who experience only the sanitized environs of Goa’s larger towns, this may come as a bit of a shock. The drop-out rate in government schools is 112%, which means that for every 100 children who take admission in school, 112 drop out. The state of Goa’s schools, many with leaking or no roofs, few teachers, at times just one for five classes and no transport or toilet facilities, make the toil of education not worth it. Which is why the added information that half of Goa’s schools don’t have a playground, doesn’t even seem as a big deal.
Meanwhile, the government will surely tom-tom that the number of schools with single teachers has dropped from 33 % to 26%, but does it realise that even 26% is an extremely high percentage for a small state like Goa. It actually means that one out of every four schools has one teacher for four classes. How good is really that? The fallout of all this is obvious. 79% of children now study in private schools which is a clear message that that parents will dip into their savings and spend for better quality education.
Therefore the message from Goa from its parents is that they will not keep their children away from education but will not accept schools with no facilities. The message is strong. It is an indictment of the government in clear unequivocal terms.
While education in this country is a reflection of the poverty index, it may not quite work that way. But the principal of integrated growth riding on the pillars of education and basic financial comfort, remains as valid.
Recently Economist Dr Amartya Sen, releasing a book called The New Bihar: Rekindling Governance and Development, he said “ What is needed is an integrated approach to development and growth. Growth is not independent of the social transformation of an economy”
Goa must adapt this as it prepares for a 25,000 crore investment to augment the economy. The United Nations Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI), benchmarks growth on the parameters of sanitation, child mortality, years of schooling and the time it takes to walk from a child’s home to school.
All of Goa’s awards of being the best small state conferred by large media groups is immaterial if it fails the test of the worlds most respected barometers that map the true quality of life a state offers to its poorest .
Therefore when it tables policy after policy, Goa needs to look within and come out with a People’s Happiness and Satisfaction policy, which will keep children in schools, make Goa garbage free, have its rivers and creeks cleaned, ensure adequate local jobs and preserve traditional occupations and crafts. We are going overboard getting more tourists and businessmen to come to Goa but doing little for the people who live here and make Goa what it is.
Let us look within and have policies meant for us.
