TEAM HERALD
The Education Department’s circular to schools ordering students to come to listen to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on Teacher’s Day has evoked outrage and strong reactions from schools across the State.
School managements taken by surprise are in a catch 22 situation about what is to be done given that the directions from the Education Department are in the nature of “binding” directions. Many say that they received the circular today while some say that they have not received any circular. Others point out that they have been informed by education officials via telephone about the circular.
While many schools
have questioned the wisdom of the circular, others complained about logistical and infrastructure problems, as they either do not have sufficient space to accommodate all students in one area or that, they do not have cable TV facilities to telecast the PM’s speech. HERALD spoke to heads, teachers and parents of various schools across the State to get their views on the education departments circular.
Many heads of government, private and diocesan schools in the port town of Vasco said that though they have TVs in the schools, they did not have cable connection to telecast the PM’s speech.
“It is not possible to accommodate hundreds of students in a hall and to watch the speech on TV, as the TV screen is very small,” said the head of one school.
Other school heads informed that they conduct secondary section classes in the morning, while some conduct primary section and others conduct higher secondary classes in the evenings in the same premises, making it difficult to find adequate space to telecast the speech.
A number of parents have reacted sharply to the circular which will force students to go to school in the afternoon merely to listen to the PM’s speech.
“Our children go for private tuitions in different subjects and I do not understand in what way our children will benefit from the speech of the Prime Minister,” said Navnath Naik from Vasco.
Another parent, Ashutosh Porob, questioned the wisdom of the Human Resources Department (HRD) in directing schools to call children in the evening to listen to the PM’s speech. “If the child wants to listen to the speech, he or she can watch it on TV at home instead of going to the school,” said Porob.
Admitting that they were yet to receive the Education Department’s circular, Holy Family High School, Porvorim, Chairperson Fatima D’Sa has, however, said the school would make arrangements to telecast the prime minister’s speech.
“We have still not received the circular. I have advised one of our staff members to get the circular from the Education Department. The school will comply with the directions given in the circular,” said D’Sa.
“We were unable to take any decision in the matter, especially making available the required infrastructure like a TV set or a large screen. We are, however, likely to arrive at a decision only on Thursday, after weighing all pros and cons. The circular has put us in a fix,” said one headmaster.
The headmaster of another school in Canacona also echoed similar sentiments. “We had already finalized our programme for Teacher’s Day, which will end only after 1 pm. How can we call back the students, as most of them come from various parts of the taluka. However, since we received the circular only today, we will take a decision only after discussing with the management,” the headmaster said.
Confusion prevailed among many schools in and around Calangute over the circular with only a few schools claiming to have received the circular, while other schools were informed by the development over telephone, demanding compliance of the circular.
The school managements are, however, yet to take a decision on the circular especially since some schools are not well equipped with the infrastructure to telecast the PM’s speech. The managements of many schools are likely to discuss and decide on the circular on Wednesday.
