Team Herald
PANJIM: Caught between pro and anti grant-in-aid to English primary schools lobbies, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar is not committing to placing what is now commonly known as “the Medium of Instruction (MoI) Bill”, during the ensuing winter session of the Legislative Assembly. In fact highly placed sources in the BJP have told Herald that the Goa School Education Amendment bill, (which is what the bill is called) which ensues grants for minority schools with English as the medium of instruction, will not be tabled in the assembly. This will have a huge fall out since the pro grant lobby also consists of thousands of parents across both communities who are demanding a choice of language for their children and grants to schools to support this choice
The Chief Minister has now decided to keep the issue on hold by putting the ball solely in the court of the Select committee, which he himself heads.
“There are multiple views expressed by the legislators. We will put them before the Select Committee to take a final call on the bill, after which it will be placed on the floor of the House,” he said after chairing a meeting of party legislators to discuss the issue on Saturday.
Parsekar, who heads the Select Committee, said a meeting is scheduled before January 11 when the Assembly session begins, but refused to spell whether the Bill would be tabled or deferred.
“As far as my personal view is concerned, it should continue in the current form but there are some people who are objecting to it,” he said.
The Bhartiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM) is demanding that legislation on the MoI cabinet decision giving grants to English medium schools should not be cleared in the forthcoming Assembly session. It has warned to intensify the agitation if the government defies them.
On Liberation Day, December 19, 2015, BBSM held peaceful demonstration across 19 locations in the State protesting the government’s U-turn on the policy.
On the Forum For Rights of Children’s Education (FORCE), which has support beyond the minority schools, is demanding that the bill be passed in the Assembly. The parents, teachers and students had held a massive protest in August last year, after the government failed to pass the Bill during the Monsoon session. Several legislators had then assured the striking members to raise the issue during the winter session of the assembly.
That assurance, like many others, will prove to be a false one soon.
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This is the all important amendment Goa is waiting for
The Goa School Education (Amendment) Bill, 2014
Section 7 B- Entitlement of Grants
Sub clause (5) No grants or aid in any form whatsoever shall be given or extended to any primary school within the State of Goa unless it has Konkani/Marathi or any of the languages envisaged in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India, as its medium of instruction imparting education:
Provided that the State Government may consider providing grants to minority schools having English as a medium of instruction and imparting education at the primary level subject to compliance with other provisions of this Act.
