WHY IS MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS LINKED TO GOVT. GRANT? by Ashley J. Fernandes, Margao

A recent report in one of the publications in our state of GOA read “IT WILL BE MOTHER TONGUE IN CLASS V TOO” . To begin with , this kind of a decision is illogical and unacceptable. Why ? Children at present struggle with the change in the medium of instruction from Std IV to V.

It was the PDF GOVERNMENT which was responsible for this mess of changing the medium of instruction in Government aided schools from English to Konkani , with Sashikala Kakodkar as the then Education Minister and now our dear “AAM AADMI EDUCATION MINISTER”, Mr Babush Monserrate , has jumped on to the bandwagon extending this illogical move to students of Std.V too. Of course one needs to know, that the common factor in both these guys are, THEY ARE HIGHLY UNEDUCATED, SO THEY DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD EDUCATION. To begin with , if the foundation laid is weak, you can’t really expect much of the child later. Exceptions to this cannot be considered as examples to follow.

In the first place, the present and past Governments need to be held responsible for ruining Goa in all departments and now, in education too. Is there any logic for a child to do his primary education in his mother tongue , and then switch to English from the VIth onwards? What is most disgusting is, people like Churchill Alemao and company, who’ve been instrumental in effecting the change earlier, have sent their wards to schools with “ENGLISH” as the medium of instruction and furthermore abroad for higher education in “ENGLISH”. So why offer “ KONKANI and MARATHI as the medium of instruction to the children of the masses? Educators have also ridiculed this move in the very same article, citing the difficulty of a child in adjusting to the change in the medium of instruction, which is a valid argument by any standard. When there are other states in India , that are open to discussion on this matter, why is the minister hell bent on implementing this ? It is rather surprising that the current D.O.E. has endorsed this change, inspite of being educated in English, herself. This only goes to prove that SHE IS A MERE RUBBER STAMP”, playing with the careers of the future generation and yet claims to be “CLEAN”. This my friends is clear proof that the present Government of Goa and officials in Government offices, are not one bit concerned about the welfare of the future generation. Let me remind the Education Minister and the D.O.E. that this decision would affect the children of the masses , which include a majority who cannot afford the unjustified high fees in private institutions and so are forced to send their children to Government aided schools. What do they get in return? Education, with their mother tongue being forcibly imposed as the medium of instruction. Frankly speaking , the choice should lie with the masses and the affected institutions and it is they who need to be taken into confidence, before such a decision is taken.

While reasons for the change in medium of instruction are many, the prime reason, in all probability, could be, “TO SUPPORT THE CAUSE OF HEFTY FEES, BEING CHARGED IN PRIVATE UNAIDED SCHOOLS, RUN BY PSEUDO EDUCATIONISTS. It is only because of this illogical move by the Government of Goa , that private unaided schools have been able to fleece parents of their hard earned money. It is definitely not “quality education”, as they quote at the drop of a hat, along with a handful of their supporters. Linking “medium of instruction” to grants given to aided schools is unfair and ridiculous. “ENGLISH” is the universal language of communication worldwide, so it would be wise, to have English as the medium of instruction in schools (depending on the choice of the concerned institution), with “KONKANI” as a compulsory language, as “KONKANI” is the mother tongue of all GOANS.

Education has become a business, which ministers in the RULING GOVERNMENT ,MLAs in the opposition and education department officials are very well aware of, and this practice needs to be stopped right here or else it would spell doomsday, very soon.

GOANS NEED TO BE EXTRA VIGILANT. INITIALLY IT WAS A CHANGE IN THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION FROM STD I TO IV, NOW IT IS BEING EXTENDED TO STD V AND SLOWLY BUT SURELY, GRADUALLY UPTO STD X. IF WE, AS A UNITED FRONT DO NOT VOICE OUR CONCERN TO THESE IRRESPONSIBLE ROGUES RUNNING OUR STATE, WE AREN’T HELPING THE FUTURE GENERATION IN ANYWAY. POLITICIANS HAVE RUINED THIS BEAUTIFUL STATE AND ARE NOW INTENT ON JEOPARDISING THE FUTURE OF OUR INNOCENT CHILDREN. I therefore appeal to the headmasters of all schools falling in this category, including those under the Archdiocesan Board of Education (A.B.E.) to object to this irresponsible move by the Education Minister (depending on individual choice), by initiating discussions with immediate effect.

A SIMPLE ONE LINER TO THE D.O.E. , THE EDUCATION MINISTER and the GOVERNMENT, STOP FORCING YOUR VIEWS ONTO THE MASSES, ASK THE MASSES WHAT THEY WOULD PREFER AND GET THAT ON PAPER, CAUSE IT IS BECAUSE OF THE MASSES THAT YOU ARE A MINISTER, HOWEVER UNEDUCATED YOU ARE AND IF YOU CANNOT WORK FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE MASSES, THEN YOU NEED TO BE SHOWN YOUR WAY OUT.