NT NETWORK
PANAJI
The advisory committee on the medium of instruction (MOI) issue held its fifth public hearing with the stakeholders in Tiswadi taluka on Friday.
Compared to high attendance at the previous public hearings in the talukas of Pernem, Sattari, Bicholim, and Bardez, the turnout for the Tiswadi taluka hearing was just about fifty per
cent.
Parents, attending the meet, suggested that the government should introduce bilingual books. However, a lot of thrust was laid on improving the school infrastructure.
One of the parents stated that poor infrastructure was dissuading parents from sending their children to government primary schools and instead send them to aided or private schools.
Another parent said that mother tongue as medium of instruction will help in preservation of the culture and enhance children’s grasping capabilities.
A member of the advisory committee, on condition of anonymity, said that the response was moving from mother tongue to English as MOI as the meetings move down south. “The response in talukas of Pernem, Sattari and Bicholim was predominantly tilted towards mother tongue as MOI, while in Bardez it was a mixed response and as we go down south, especially Salcete, the response is expected to tilt towards English as MOI,” the member stated.
Tiswadi taluka has around 43 aided and unaided primary schools in addition to around 53 government primary schools.
The advisory committee will hold its meeting in Quepem taluka on Saturday at the Government College of Arts, Commerce and Science in Quepem and the meeting in Ponda taluka will be held on October 21 at the GVM’s Higher Secondary School in Ponda.