PANAJI : Giving all indications as regards continuing with the medium of instruction policy of the past governments, which ensures government grants to the 135 English medium primary schools in the state, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday said the MoI imbroglio has resulted due to poor quality of education in the (Konkani and Marathi primary) schools, and if the same is improved, the parents would not shy away from sending their children to these schools.
“The present situation (as regards the MoI) is due to the drop in the quality of education in these schools,” he reiterated.
The Chief Minister, who was paying tributes to the departed former chief minister of Goa Shashikala Kakodkar in the state legislative assembly, said the schools need to provide the students with the knowledge-absorption capacity.
“The government is working towards improving the quality of education in schools. However, it would be unfortunate if the same fails to pick up in spite of all efforts,” he observed.
Parrikar, who also holds the education portfolio, recalled that the first budget for Goa, Daman and Diu, presented by the then chief minister, Bhausaheb Bandodkar had 17 per cent of the GDP share dedicated to the education.
“It is very important to provide education to a person rather than the money,” he observed, maintaining that Kakodkar followed footsteps of her illustrious father, and was a true leader instead of being just a politician, a quality that should be emulated by all politicians.
The House, besides Kakodkar, also paid rich tributes to 31 other eminent personalities, who passed away recently. They included politicians, Sanyogita Rane and J Jayalalithaa; freedom fighters, Chandrakant Kenkre and Mahabaleshwar Divkar; actors, Om Puri and Guilhermina Leitao; musicians, Nandu Honap, Pt Babanrao Haldankar, and Vamanrao Pilgaonkar; noted philanthropist, Parmeshwar Godrej, and well-known economist, Sulbha Brahme, among others.
A number of members of the state legislative assembly also spoke on the obituary references.
The House observed one-minute silence in memory of the departed personalities.