PONDA: Once the mainstay of the State’s education system, several government primary schools (GPS) in Goa lie in a shambles today. Concerned citizens, many of whom were themselves educated at these GPSs as children, are now keen on getting the government to give these institutions a new lease on life.
The GPS system was the brainchild of Goa’s first chief minister, Dayanand ‘Bhausaheb’ Bandodkar, whose thrust as leader lay primarily on providing education to people who were, at the time, freshly liberated from over 400 years of Portuguese rule. With the state recently marking Bandodkar’ 50th death anniversary, calls for resurrecting these schools have only gotten more fervent.
Many Bahujan communities, in particular, from across Goa say the former chief minister is the only reason they received a decent education after centuries of being deprived of it.
Sagar Naik Mule, an artist from Adpai who was recognised by Prime Minister NarendraModi in one of the latter’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programmes for his contribution towards protecting and reviving kaavi art, says he is greatly pained to see his childhood GPS at Adpai in a pathetic condition. “The government should either repair these temples of education or convert them into libraries or health centres so that they can be used for the good of the society. We can’t bear to see them getting destroyed by the vagaries of nature,” he says.
Former Bandora sarpanch Rajesh Naik echoes his views. “These institutions hold memories of our childhoods and are especially dear to us because they were established by our first chief minister. We cannot let them reel under neglect,” he says.
