There is a certain amount of unease every time the medium of instruction issue raises its head. Most, if not all, politicians approach this problem with a sense of foreboding and an element of caution. And the reason for this circumspect approach is understandable. Political parties and elected representatives realize that this is one issue that can tear the political fabric asunder. And no one wants to go to war on this issue because no one knows how it will play out at the polls.
It is with this frightful picture in the background that members of the select committee wisely decided to play for more time. More details were sought and the law department was invited to give its expert advise on the differences between the cabinet note and the amendment bill which would have cast the policy to give grants to English primary schools run by the Archdiocese Board of Education, in stone, if passed. What stands is the commitment of the BJP government to continue with grants and perhaps, that is the best possible compromise in light of the volatile nature of the issue and the passion it stirs up.
The previous Congress government had opted for grants for all English primary schools, which was more universal, but opposed by the BJP. After it came to power, the BJP, under pressure from its ideological mentor, the RSS, came up with a compromise which seemed like a move to appease schools run by the minority community. While Manohar Parrikar succeeded in pushing this policy through the executive he stopped short of embedding it in law. So what remains is a hazy appeasement policy instead of a bold approach to education. The MGP’s stand is closer to the Congress in as much as it supports grants for all English primary schools but opposes grants on the basis of religion. There is merit in this stand, but implementing it at this stage could prove to be quite difficult.
Ideally, it would be best to allow parents to decide the medium of education because Goa threw pedagogical theory out of the window long ago. One can hardly blame governments and interest groups for abandoning pedagogy because in Goa there is no clarity on mother tongue. We have an official language, but then pedagogy supports the mother tongue, not official language. The result is a cacophony of voices and multiplicity of tongues.
While use of the education system to foster Indianness is an ideal worth pursuing, it can be realised only if one is willing to accept diversity as the building block of unity. Any and every move to impose one’s choice on another is more likely to meet with resistance, following which a deadlock will be reached. That deadlock has been reached and political leaders are wary of attempting to break it in an election year. From all angles, status quo seems more comfortable than hammering out a solution.
Irrespective of the ideological stands taken by FORCE and BBSM, primary education in English will continue to receive patronage from parents and will remain the first choice for many. This vote in favour of English is not one cast in a ballot box or on an EVM machine; it is backed by money paid out as fees. This surge of support cannot be wished away or suppressed through a policy. Because in the end parents view education as an investment in their children’s future. The real challenge is how to get parents to invest in Konkani. It’s a challenge that few have taken up by bravely opening primary schools in the vernacular. They need our wholehearted support.
