NT NETWORK
MARGAO
Exasperated by the alleged delaying tactics in legislating a 2014 cabinet decision approving grants to English medium primary schools, the Forum of Rights for Children Education on Tuesday submitted a memorandum to the education director demanding grants to all such schools.
The FORCE has been displeased by the formation of an advisory committee by the government to revisit the controversy over medium of instruction, which has been hanging fire for the last six years. Hence the FORCE has demanded scraping of the advisory committee.
The memorandum, which has been signed by over two lakh parents, has stated that the government should let the parents choose the medium of instruction for their children. There should be equal grants and support of the government because such demands are guaranteed in the Constitution of India. A copy of the memorandum has also been submitted to the chairman of the advisory committee.
The executive committee of the FORCE says the parents’ demand is in line with the Article 19, Article 21 (A) of the Constitution, which guarantee the people of the country choice to choose the language and educational opportunities.
The FORCE in its memorandum asked the government to urgently resolve the issue by legislating the cabinet decision taken in July 2014 to give grants to the English primary schools.
Stating that the FORCE and its affiliated PTAs have rejected the formation of the advisory committee, the memorandum said the advisory committee conducted a meeting in a biased manner. The invitees had been chosen in such a way that the meeting came up with an opinion, which has been contrary to FORCE’s demand. A RTI reply substantiates these allegations. The government cannot ignore the demand of the majority of the parents. The parents are clear that while they wish that Konkani, our official language, be taught in our schools, the future lies in English medium because Goa has proved incapable of providing jobs for its qualified citizens.
The memorandum stated that the MOI bill was tabled in the assembly on August 18, 2014 and then was referred to the select committee during the same assembly session. The bill had been tabled after holding consultations with various stakeholders in the field of education. Before the bill had been tabled, cabinet decisions were taken in June 2012, January 2014, and July 2014. After having gone through the lengthy process over a period of three years, the bill was tabled. The bill had been referred to the select committee as it was not in consonance with the cabinet approval dated July 1, 2014. Since the bill had been deliberated by the select committee, we find it absurd to know about the formation of the advisory committee for revisiting the issue.
Highlighting five facts gleaned through RTI applications, FORCE general secretary Savio Lopes said, “We object to the delaying tactics adopted by the advisory committee and the government in giving legislative sanctity to the cabinet approval of July 1, 2014. We request the government and the director of education to legislate and give a legal sanction to the particular cabinet decision at the earliest and lay the matter to rest, which has been pending for the last six years.”
He urged the government to concentrate on prioritising its efforts and time in improving the quality of education so that our new generation would not have to struggle in building up their careers and finding jobs as per their qualifications.