MARGAO: A sense of frustration is gripping the parents of children from English-medium primary schools. These parents are at odds with the government stand on the medium of instruction. On Saturday, a small and vociferous parent group, representing thousands of parents from the beach belt of Colva, Benaulim, Betalbatim, Utorda and Majorda, gathered at the Margao municipal council press hall and turned up the political heat -- demanding that English be the medium of instruction in primary schools.
It gives the state government the preference to choose the medium of instruction in the interest of the children and their parents.
Why is the government playing politics with the future of our children? Every child of an MLA, minister or bureaucrat studies in English. If studying in one’s mother tongue helps the child, then why are the MLAs, the ministers and the moneyed people sending their children to English-medium schools, they argued.
The alarmed parents, mostly mothers, said that for the future of their children they want English as the medium of instruction. "If there is no response from the government now, we will stop our children from going to school," yelled Ms Moraes.
Coming hard on the Benaulim MLA, Mr Francisco Xavier Pacheco alias Mickky, they said that Mr Pacheco only attends their meetings, but does nothing to support their cause. A memorandum has been forwarded to MLAs of all the constituencies, informed Ms Sandra Ferrao, and Ms Zeta.
The parents threatened to jeopardise tourism and play havoc during the time of voting. English is also an important element in the future of our kids, they said, adding that even the Lamanis speak English to make their future bright here, and it is the most popular language in India. The parents demanded, "We want an answer from each MLA and ministers, including Mickky Pacheco, we want an answer as to what your stand on this issue is?"
Fight, Fight till we get our way, and please for heaven's sake also demand that Marathi be removed as the 2nd Language of Goa...Marathi should not be in the picture at all, it’s a big joke associating Marathi with us Goans….
ReplyDeleteI congratulate the parents for taking the fight for English for our kids in their own hands as the so called FORCE seems to be no longer a force to reckon with as they do not know how to achieve our goals. They only seems to be people without any teeth and very vulnerable to the acts of the devil. We have to unite and I think we will have to take this struggle in our own hands. The FORCE lads seem to be intimidated and the Margao rally was nothing but a musical show. The government will not listen to musicians but we need to act with urgency and cannot wait till next academic year for that.
ReplyDeleteBEWARE OF FORCE. SEEMS LIKE THEY HAVE LOST THE TEETH AND NO GUTS TO TAKE ON THE GOVERNMENT. IF U HAVE WHAT I SAID U DO NOT HAVE GIVE OUT A CALL FOR A GENERAL STRIKE IN GOA AND WE SHALL FOLLOW U.
DO NOT FOOL THE PARENTS WITH YOUR MUSICAL SHOWS!
Rest of should follow the example of the parents who gathered demanding moi on saturday. We should not rely on others to fight for us. We should our selves take the iniative come the street and take the government to task. First thing we should do is take the march at the residence of our local MLA and see what his position is whether he is supporting or not. And then decide the next course of action
ReplyDeleteI would like to praise Ms. Maria Moraes and her colleagues for frankly & bravely stating that Mickky Pacheco & Churchill did not express any interest in their fight for MOI.
ReplyDeleteI salute her and her collegues for their actions.
I would certainly call Ms Maria Moraes, "Dynamic" and a "TRUE GOAN".
I am still not sure how Digu Kamat has called Big Lips Valanka Alemao "dynamic".I am not even sure how Valanka calls her own self Dynamic.This is purely self-praise with a hidden agenda.
Valanka should be correctly addressed as a " 10% CROOK"...just like her erstwhile father.
There was a similar person to Valanka...she was called Imelda Marcos of the Phillipines.
Yes, the RTE states that the medium of instruction should, as far as practicable, be in the child's mother tongue. It is not compulsory to be in the mother tongue. English can very well be included as one the mediums of instruction for the purpose of extending grants-in-aid. Government is playing with the demands of the people. It is only when people come on the streets, when there are strikes, when the State is paralysed, that Government listens. Take the case of Karewado.
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