FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO CHOOSE THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION by Arnaldo Cardozo, Varca

Good education can come from English medium only.
1. Child is exposed to the vast knowledge of the world.
2. It will benefit economically – weaker background community.
3. English medium will make higher education easy.
4. Children should pursue world – class education to contribute to our country’s development.
5. It is foolish to think Medical, Engineering or technical courses can be imparted in regional languages.
6. Konkani medium schools will destroy the future of our education.
7. English medium will help the students to compete with others for employment or business: nationally and internationally.
8. English medium children can perform better in public and competitive exams.
9. Konkani as the medium of instruction has lowered the standard of education of Goa.
10. Dropout rate will be less with English as the medium of instruction.
11. Goa is a multilingual state; parents can choose the medium of instruction for their children, to protect their future.
12. More than two lakhs children suffered on mental trauma because of Konkani medium schools.
13. If Konkani is made as the medium of instruction from V to VIII, where do the children of English Primary Schools will go? And what will be their fate?
14. The medium of instruction plays an important role in the learning of the child.
15. Many countries like China, Singapore, Japan etc where everything was taught in local language are now holding crash courses in English.
16. It is an indisputable fact that English has placed India on the global map for their right reason without which we would have been somewhere else.
17. The children study in the English medium school, that English fluency will guarantee them access to the best Universities and best jobs.
BAD EFFECTS / ADVERSE EFFECTS ON THE CHILD
1. A complete generation was divasted and made uncompetitive by the no English policy of our Government.
2. Forcing it down the throat of unwilling people is not the way but the hidden intention is to suppress, oppress and exploit them in the name of the language.
3. Are the text books of Konkani interesting? Or is our Konkani interactive or child learns rote learning?
4. The text books of std V to VIII are still to be made and need to be made better quality and child centered.
5. Politicians, law makers, policy makers should first send their own children to Konkani/Marathi medium Schools and not quietly to English medium schools. Practice before preaching

Parents are the primary care givers and decisions makers for their children. The medium of instructions should be looked at through the eyes of the society. Is the government policy on the medium of instruction is to create a vote bank/ lobby politics.

Are the government schools / Aided schools free to imposed dubious medium of instructions upon the children of the poor and socially disadvantaged who enrolled in Goa’s government schools and Aided schools?

It is a socio-economic divides in our state of Goa.

The middle class and the rich can afford to send their children to private English medium schools. For poor the only option is government or Aided schools teaching in Konkani/Marathi medium. Why should the poor be denied English Medium Education? Why are they denying poor children the opportunity to receive equal quality of education?

The education should be given to the children without any biasing them in any direction.

Some suggest that mother-tongue is ideal for primary education. Does it mean that a native from Karnataka, Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh who had come to Goa, pre-post liberation of Goa should send their children to the schools who medium of instruction is mother-tongue of the kid.

If the medium of instruction is forced upon the schools (Government and Aided ) it will deny the poor children the opportunity to receive equal quality education. It will perpetuate socio-economic divides in the state and keep the poor to the bottom of the social structure.

Parents need to be left alone to get on with the task of educating their educationally under served children. The medium of instruction plays an important role in the learning of the child. Hence he cannot keep switching between medium. What will happen after he passes fifth or eight standards? Which school/college he will go? Student who comes from other state (English medium) will have an advantage over local students in the tests like (BITS or IIT, CET etc)

Let us say government come and says that your children must be given Ayurvedic treatment if they are sick because Ayurvedic are four thousands years old and it is traditional otherwise Ayurvedic medicines will suffer. What will you do?

States like Mizoram and Manipur have English medium schools with full grant from the government. Marathi medium schools in Goa including a Kannada school are given grant. Why not English schools?

More than two lakhs children suffered from mental trauma because of Konkani medium schools. Policies should be made keeping in mind the good of the vast majority of the people. The demand of the majority of the parents is that the State government must also give socially disadvantage parents the right to choose the medium of instructions of their children in government and Aided schools.

The Supreme Court and High Courts have pronounced clear verdicts.

The R.T.E. Act 2009 states that “if children choose to be educated in English, the State government has to pay for it”. Linking with medium of instructions is not only in violation this act by the state government, but also a violation of the Constitutional right of equality and fairness.

The schools which are running with government aid, the medium of instruction cannot be changed nor stop grants to such schools as per the laid down laws and as per the verdict passed by the Court.