Team Herald
PANJIM: Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM) on Wednesday gheraoed Education Department officials demanding approvals to 38 Konkani and Marathi primary schools.
BBSM alleged that the State government has not been following the education policy and has destroyed Konkani and Marathi schools in Goa.
“Over 500 Konkani and Marathi primary schools are suffering due to governmental neglect. On one hand the government likes to act as if it is giving preference to regional language schools and on the other hand it is rejecting applications for new Konkani and Marathi primary schools,” BBSM Convenor Subhash Velingkar said.
He added, “Currently there are 20 schools with zero enrolment, 18 schools have only 1-5 students, 116 schools have 6-10 students and 147 schools have 11-15 students each. Thus a total of 301 government primary schools with a strength of less than 15 students will close down in two years.”
He further stated that as per the figures of the department, an estimated 301 govt primary schools will be shut down in two years due to lack of student enrolment and another 108 schools will be shut down in the following two years.
Meanwhile, two new Marathi primary schools had received permission to open from the current academic year 2018-19.
However, the proposal to open 52 Konkani, Marathi and Urdu primary schools were rejected based on feasibility reports submitted by the ADEI, as they had found that a new school can affect enrolment of an existing school in the neighbourhood.
DoE had received 63 applications to open new primary schools from the academic year 2018-19, of which, the State is yet to take a decision on nine proposals.
