PANJIM: In an attempt to ensure that the contentious medium of instruction (MoI) issue doesn’t hamper the election prospects of the ruling BJP-MGP coalition, the State Government on Monday granted the 17-member advisory committee three additional months to submit its report on the issue.
The committee now has till February next year to submit its report. It is yet to hold any meetings or consultations on the issue in South Goa.
The 120-day period granted to the committee, headed by Director of Higher Education Bhaskar Nayak, ended on November 12. The committee sought additional time to submit its report.
“Government has granted an extension of three months to the advisory committee to submit its report till February 12, 2017,” the committee’s member secretary Nagraj Hoonnekari said.
He said the extension has been granted following request from the advisory committee, who informed the government that they were not able to complete the consultation process in 120 days.
BBSM, which is demanding withdrawal of grants to English schools, and FORCE which has been demanding that the cabinet decision for grants to English schools be enacted as law had the formation of the advisory committee stating it as an ‘election gimmick’.
Reacting to the extension that has been granted, BBSM member Uday Bhembre said the move had already been predicted. “We had predicted this long back. Now elections are due in the next three months and the code of conduct will come into force. BJP is doing nothing but playing a drama,” he said. “Government is fooling itself and not the people,” Bhembre added.
FORCE said the extension is not a surprise as they had predicted it. Savio Lopes of FORCE said, “We had rejected the committee in the first place when it had been formed. We knew the intention of the government behind the formation of the committee. At that time we had stated that the committee will be given another extension and meanwhile the Code of Conduct will be in place and a decision will be delayed. This was an exercise to delay the decision,” Lopes said and added that their future plans against the backdrop of the elections will be revealed in the coming weeks.
FORCE had gone on a dharna in July 2015 demanding that the cabinet decision on grants to English schools be enacted as law. After parents across Goa had blocked traffic, Ministers and MLAs had promised the protesting parents that the Bill that was with the Select Committee would be taken up for discussion in the next Assembly session. While the bill was not taken up, the government instead formed the advisory committee on MoI.
The advisory committee has till date covered talukas in North Goa which include Sattari, Bicholim, Pernem, Bardez and Tiswadi and two in South Goa – Quepem and Ponda. The committee received a poor response from the schools and parents’ teachers association (PTAs) but it saw a demand for primary education in the mother tongue – Marathi or Konkani.
“So far the participation has been very good. People have expressed their views. They are concerned about the MoI issue and the determent to primary education,” the officer said. “We are yet to cover five talukas from South Goa. Also we have to meet the stakeholders that include educational experts,” Hoonnekari said.
Siscussions in Salcette, Mormugao and Canacona are likely to be heated as a majority of the parents in these areas are in favour of English as the medium of instruction. The committee is also yet to visit Sanguem and Dharbandora talukas.
The State government had notified the committee in July this year, seeking wider consultations to facilitate a decision on the MoI. The committee has to study the entire system of grants and financial support to government aided schools for primary education and make its recommendation so as to improve its overall efficiency for achieving the educational goals of the State.
The committee has been asked to visit the neighbouring States along the Konkan belt – Maharashtra, Karnataka – to study the socio-cultural dynamics of the matter.
The committee is required to hold extensive consultations with various civic society organizations including PTAs, school management committees, primary school teachers association, headmasters association, principal’s forum, aided school management association, educationists, etc to ascertain their views on various aspects of the subject.
