VALPOI: Sattari taluka plays host to 101 Marathi medium Government Primary Schools, most of them were constructed in the villages of taluka during the tenure of Goa’s first Chief Minister Bhausaheb Bandodkar. However, since then, the facilities in most schools situated in rural areas, have remained the same, which have forced most parents to admit their children in the private schools in the towns.

“The schools in towns are equipped with better facilities but this is not the case with the ones in rural areas. That is the reason most parents admit their children in the private schools in towns,” said a parent Ramkrishna Gawas from Hivrem.

“The government needs to provide better facilities for the schools in villages,” said Gawas.

Valpoi town boasts of having a number of secondary and higher secondary schools. After the completing their primary education, students have to travel to either Valpoi or Honda for higher education. Hence, most parents have moved to the cities from the villages and this has impacted the enrolment of schools in the rural areas.

Assistant District Educational Inspector (ADEI) Sattari has claimed that no schools will be closed this academic year on account of satisfactory enrolment. But this has not gone down well with the locals who they fear that the closure of two primary schools in the taluka in the last four years and the failure on the part of the government to improve the facilities in other schools will impact the enrolment in the future.

The ADEI Sattari said, “The roof of the primary school at Bandilwada in Sanvordem Panchayat area needs urgent repairs and the proposal for the same has been put forth before the Public Works Department (PWD). The rest are in good condition as most have undergone repair in the last five years, while some will be repaired next year.”

“The Directorate of Education (DoE) has been paying special attention to the government schools over the last five years which reflects on the decent enrolment,” said Ganesh Gaude, a parent from Caranzol.