Revamp system
The mayhem caused after the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admissions in medical and dental courses, has several aspects to it. The first and foremost grievance is that while the Goa Common Entrance Test (GCET) considers the syllabus of Std. XII alone, the NEET to be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will contain question from the syllabus of Std. XI and XII alike. The other major concern of students (not just the students answering this year’s NEET, but subsequent batches as well) is that the Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education’s syllabus for Std. XI and XII is far more mediocre as compared to that of the CBSE. Many concepts have been “made easier” (read, content and quality reduced) for Goa’s students and many concepts are not taught in detail.
How can a Goa Board student expected to compete with a qualitatively higher CBSE student? The Goa Board should be held culpable for this fiasco which occurred after the NEET, for the NEET is an eye opener about the negligible quality of education imparted in Goan schools. A whole revamp of the education system in Goa is needed right from the lower classes, to ensure that our Goan students stand competent to face competition at the national level. Else, there’s no use lamenting about how Goan students lag behind at the national level.
Sharad M. Deshpande, Margao
Women’s sports
For the first time ever our country's Indian contingent will be able to march with their heads held high at the Olympics to be staged at Rio de Janeiro, thanks to gymnastics qualifier Dipa Karmakar who won the gold medal at the recent test event. It was unimaginable to see any Indian gymnast at the previous Olympics. How much closer to an Olympic gold medal could any Indian aspirant get? This history making feat will boost the morale of other Rio bound women like Saina Nehwal (Badminton), who won the bronze medal at London Olympics, and the other women participants like Deepika Kumari in archery. This letter's focus is on women participants because they have been major medal winners at past Oympics. Some games ago, it was Rameshwari who bagged a bronze in weight-lifting event, the only medal India managed to get.
Unfortunately, the Indian Olympic Association does not seem to be enthusiastic about the manner our women athletes raise the country's profile at major sporting events. To recall, the women's relay team often win one or two relay events at Asian Games leaving sprinters from top nations like China far behind. The qualification of Indian women’s hockey team at Rio should also not go unnoticed and unheralded.
Valentino Fernandes, Candolim
Not riots
The government must identify the people involved in the riot in Dicarpale and jail them. There is no excuse to burn and destroy vehicles and throw stones at the police. What started out as a fight between two boys has turned into an incident that shames us as Goans. This is not what peace loving Goa is known for. The public should have allowed the law to take its course and if they found any discrepancies in any decision, there are legal ways to tackle this. But burning vehicles and someone’s restaurant is a shameful act. Riots happen across the country. Goa should not follow this course.
Amey Kurtakar, Margao
