Team Herald
MARGAO: The Education Department has denied allegation that the government is responsible for the closing down of Urdu medium schools.
Reacting to the allegation made by the Congress minority cell that the government got rid of Urdu medium schools in Goa, the Department said that the claim of “injustice to Urdu schools by government is false and misleading.”
In a statement issued here, the Department has stated that “The Government neither attempts to close down Urdu medium schools nor does any sort of injustice to these schools.”
The Department has informed that on the contrary, the government has permitted three new Urdu medium schools including two in the academic year 2016-17 and one during the current academic year.
The Directorate of Education has also clarified that due to decrease in the number of students opting for Urdu medium, three government primary schools in Urdu medium had to be closed down since 2012. “The State Government has not discriminated against Urdu medium schools in providing the staff and other facilities. Although the government provides teachers on contract basis in Urdu primary schools every year, the enrollment is on decline,” the statement reads as.
“Whereas the number of students in Government Primary Schools in Urdu medium in the year 2012-13 was 1075, the same has been reduced to 558 during the year 2017-18, the number of students in aided Urdu medium primary schools which had increased from 441 in the year 2012-13 to 663 in the year 2016 dropped down to 487 in 2017-18,” the Education department stated.
As stated by the Directorate of Education it is primarily due to tendency of the parents to divert their wards to other medium. During this academic year permission has been granted to start urdu medium primary school to Goa Education Health and Welfare Trust’s, Millat School, Baina Vasco.
According to the Directorate of Education, presently, there are eight High Schools in Urdu medium namely Ladeed High School in Chimbel, National High School in Valpoi; AIM High School in Margao; Ameenia High School and Al Madina High School in Vacso; Anjuman Nurul Islam High School in Panjim; Fatima High School in Ponda; and Jamiya e Maqbuliya High School in Ponda.
“Anjuman Nurul Islam High School is constructing a huge building in the plot allotted at Cujira School Complex and the government will support it by providing the required fund through infrastructure loan scheme on production of required documents,” the department stated.
