The demand by Forum for the Rights for Children's Education (FORCE), to embed the decision to give grants to English medium primary schools in the education act, is a logical progression of an earlier decision taken by the state cabinet to extend this benefit to most diocesan schools. The reasons for wanting this benefit to be embedded in the act is because it shields English medium schools from the whim and fancy of politicians or a change in government. To achieve this end FORCE will launch an indefinite hunger strike at Azad Maidan from July 27 and hold a peaceful march to the Assembly.
One would have though that with the government deciding to give grants to English primary schools run by the Diocesan Society of Education, the matter was a closed chapter. But apparently, there are fears, real or imaginary, in the DSE and among parents keen on giving their wards an English education, that the Cabinet decision would be either reversed or diluted.
It seems rather sad that parents have to agitate twice to get one demand fulfilled. The fight for English medium primary education was a long drawn one with those in favour of Marathi and Konkani opposing it tooth and nail. The then Congress government conceded the demand and had agreed in principle to give aid to all English primary schools. This decision was taken after parents were asked to vote on the issue. However, erroneous application of the law and a court case grounded good intentions and it was left to the Manohar Parrikar government to fulfill the demand.However, a question that needs to be answered, particularly by FORCE and its supporters is, why is it suspicious of the government? Has the Laxmikant Parsekar government done anything to indicate that it wants to reverse or dilute its policy on primary education? Not wanting to amend the law is not a reason for expressing a vote of no confidence and the government must be given time.
The DSE and its supporters might argue that it has lost faith as the Parsekar government has refused to grant permission to the DSE for starting higher secondary schools and turned down its request to allow it to appoint counsellors of its choice. No matter how compelling these arguments might be, they cannot be put on the same plane as the policy on English primary education. So the question that does arise is, has FORCE exhausted all its remedies? Should it not attempt to engage the government in a dialogue before taking to the streets?
On the other hand, Goa cannot go on changing its education policies and parents should not be placed in a situation where they have to agitate every now and then. Since the BJP government fulfilled the demand, it must take the next step and amend the law to ensure that the change is made permanent and a pressure-cooker type atmosphere is prevented from developing. This should not be difficult for the government as the promise to resolve the issue was also embedded in its election manifesto.
