PANJIM: The fight for English as a medium of instruction at Monday's rally at Azad Maidan in Panjim saw significant bitterness among several mothers in the crowd, who said they suffered for years teaching their children Konkani in a dialect which differed from that spoken at home.
This bitterness was also reflected in the address on stage by Lorraine Fernandes, a parent and former teacher. "Why are our children failing in their studies when they are supposedly learning in their mother tongue? It's because the dialect spoken at home and the one spoken in school are different. Our children hate going to school," she said.
Newsmen spoke to several mothers in the crowd, including some who couldn't speak a word in English. "Konkani is our mother tongue, but I can't understand the Konkani my own child learns in school. Hence, I can't teach her at home. I can neither read nor write it," said Esperanca Almeida from Nuvem.
Parents said that Konkani, being the state's mother tongue, should be made a compulsory subject up to class VIII as is the case with Marathi and Kannada in the neighbouring states. However, they want the right to choose between Konkani in the Roman and Devanagri scripts, so that a single dialect is not imposed.
"I have brought up three sons, teaching them in a dialect of Konkani that we never speak at home. We want English as a medium of instruction with Konkani - our mother tongue - as a compulsory subject up to class VIII. Here, the parents must be given a choice to decide whether they want their children to study Roman or Devanagri Konkani. But, why impose your dialect on me, or mine on you?" questioned Jennifer Fernandes of Aldona.
"We parents stood for two-and-half hours in the sweltering heat. Some of us were giddy, but we are here for a reason and for the future of our children," she said.
While giving his views on whether English should be included as medium of instruction at the primary school level along with the vernacular languages in the legislative assembly, opposition leader and Panjim MLA Manohar Parrikar has quoted UNESCO guidelines that primary education should be delivered in one's mother tongue.
But why should Konkani education be given in one particular dialect spoken by a particular community of Goa? Why should the Catholic children speak a different dialect other then theirs or one spoken at home? Parrikar should also take a note of this, as to why a dialect that is not ours should be taught to our children. They should immediately print books in Roman script as well said a majority of the parents who were Catholics.
As I have commented elsewhere, quoting a writer from the print media (Dr. Afonso Botelho, Betalbatim): "There is no general rule that primary education should be in the mother tongue. Mother tongue education is often 'predicated upon some sort of ancestral definition of mother tongue' and modern generation, having experienced language shift, speak languages other than those spoken by their ancestors. There is no justification in educating children in languages, ancestral or otherwise, which they do not speak. In fact, in some language situations, primary education in the mother tongue may not be desirable, for often it is language maintenance which is at the root of the promotion of mother tongue education". He continues: "Empowerment of individuals should have primacy over the development of an individual's mother tongue and even over the preservation of a language".
ReplyDeleteSo there we have it: At the root of the policy of extending grants is "language maintenance" and "preservation of a language". Both can be achieved even if schools with English as the medium of instruction are also extended the grants, while also teaching the local language as a compulsory subject.