Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch has made a grim prediction that 543 Konkani and Marathi-medium primary schools will be forced to close their doors over the next four years owing to absence of government support and the predatory nature of its Medium of Instruction (MoI) policy.
PANAJI
The core committee of BBSM convened a meeting on Wednesday to discuss, what it terms as a crisis threatening the education sector in the state.
Speaking after the meeting, BBSM convenor Subhash Velingkar stated, “543 schools with strength of less than 40 students at present will be forced to shut down over the next four years owing to the BJP government’s failure to give boost to education in the mother tongue. Of the 99 applications submitted for setting up Konkani and Marathi schools in the last five years, only 21 have been approved by the BJP government.”
Relying completely on data sought through Right to Information, Velingkar countered the claims of Parrikar-led government. “Parrikar turned down 26 applications for new schools in mother tongue this year as there are already enough schools. The government will neither be able to nor does it intend to fill the existing void,” Velingkar stated while insisting that the quality of education in government schools has not improved over the last five years.
BBSM declared that the government has failed to live up to its policy decision of providing a onetime grant of Rs 12 lakh to all new schools for initial infrastructural expenses. “BJP’s number came down from 21 to 13, but this is not sufficient. A complete annihilation of such liars is required for the progress of Goa’s education sector,” Velingkar charged.
BBSM announced that it will resume its fight through token dharnas at 18 public spots across the state from June 26 to July 2.
