Team Herald
PANJIM: Stating that there is no clarity as when the schools and colleges will re-open for the academic year 2020-21, the Chief Minister (CM) Pramod Sawant, on Friday, told students that the classes will resume in a phased manner to start with Std X and XII. He also informed that the new National Education Policy (NEP) will be implemented in Goa from the next academic year.
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Sawant on Friday had a first-hand reality check on the issues faced by students with regards to poor internet connectivity during his live online interaction with them. Several students, who had cleared their 2019-20 board exams, were lined up to pose their question to the Chief Minister on various issues related to present education system; however, failed to connect due to poor network.
During his hour-long interaction, which was also live on the CM’s official social media accounts, Sawant said the Government will soon rope in a private agency to prepare students for competitive examinations like IAS, IFS, IPS, Banking, GPSC, etc. He added that a ‘holistic career oriented education system’ is the vision of the State government.
Rahul Gunapur was the first student to question the CM about when the schools and colleges will reopen for the academic year. He added that he wants schools to restart soon.
“In the current pandemic, the Government is not in a position to say when the schools and colleges will reopen. I know that education is very important but lives are more important. We are waiting for guidelines from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, as the issue is related to the entire country,” he said.
“But we will restart classes. We don’t know when as yet but maybe in a phased manner, starting with Class X and XII, and then Class VIII, IX and XII. Maybe, from the coming month, but it will be only be after the situation comes under control,” the CM added.
Replying to a question by Sonia Chavan, Sawant said that the new National Education Policy will be implemented in the State from the next year (academic year). “We have formed a task force to study the policy,” he said, while adding that Goa will implement the policy along with the rest of India.
Sawant emphasized that the NEP, which correlates education and employability, will have large scale benefit for students, especially in personality and skill development.
Another student, Allan D’Silva, questioned the CM as to why there is no coordination between education imparted and employment opportunity available in Goa.
In yet another question asked by Bharghav Mandrekar with regards to competitive examinations, the CM said that the Directorate of Higher Education has invited Request for Quotations (RFQ) for a private agency, which will be roped in to train the students from government colleges, in competitive examination.
The other questions included queries regarding the poor internet connectivity, vision for education sector, courses available, etc, which were answered by the CM.
Speaking earlier, Sawant urged students to make optimum use of technology like mobile for personality development. He said that personality development, which includes dealing with stress, preparing psychological & personal health, concentration, etc are things, which are not taught as part of academic and hence the same needs to be learnt.
“During our time, we never had technology exposure like the students have now. Hence, (you’ all) should make the best use of technology for personality development, knowledge gathering and improving communication skill,” Sawant said.
The CM further stated that the government is aware about the financial constraints faced by the students while applying for the admissions in professional colleges. “The Government will soon tie up with nationalised banks to provide interest free funding for the students,” he said.
