Explore legal options, to hold demonstrations outside schools after sending wards to class; South MP to submit memo to central minister
School children participate in the protest at the Lohia Maidan, Margao, on Sunday against the new academic year. A section of the parents attending the meeting at Lohia Maidan.
Photo Credits: Santosh Mirajkar
MARGAO
Parents and civil society members have on Sunday vowed to stage protests outside schools across the State if the government bulldozes its way and goes ahead with the new academic year from April 7.
While deciding to explore various legal options, the parents have resolved to hold demonstrations outside the schools on April 7 after sending their wards to their classrooms.
In fact, a public meeting held at the historic Lohia Maidan, Margao, on Sunday by the parents have unanimously resolved to carry on the agitation against the opening of the academic year in April.
A couple of school children also voiced their grievances at the meeting through poems as they made a fervent plea to the government to reconsider the decision on the new academic year from April 7.
Speakers, including South Goa MP Viriato Fernandes and MLAs Vijai Sardesai, Cruz Silva and Venzy Viegas slammed the government for dictatorship by pushing the new academic year in April down the throats of children and parents.
In fact, the South Goa MP has promised the beleaguered parents that he would hand over their memorandum to the Union Education Minister when he attends the Parliament session in the coming week. “There are just four days left for the ongoing Parliament session to end. I will meet the Union Education Minister and hand over to him your memorandum opposing the new academic year from April as per the New Education Policy (NEP). I will get back to you with a communique,” he said, while reiterating his support to the genuine and just demand of the parents.
In his address, Goa Forward chief Vijai Sardesai said the agitation by the protesting parents have only exposed the Sawant government that it does not understand the seasons. “It’s summer in Goa in April, while the summer starts in May-June in Delhi. The government should not blindly follow the Delhi pattern,” he said.
Sardesai said the BJP government is on a harassment mode, targeting every section of society, right from students to parents and women supplying mid-day meal to the students. “This government is not concerned about Goans. We have to keep up this fight,” he appealed, while expressing his solidarity with the protesting parents.
Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas said he had asked Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for acting in haste in implementing the NEP in Goa, but had no answer. “We have to remain united and fight the battle. We have to create a movement so that the voices of children and parents are heard and respected,” he said.
Venzy suggested that all members of PTAs across Goa should stand outside their respective schools with placards and banners if the government goes ahead with the academic year on April 7. “If the government does not listen to you and change the academic year, you will have to make the government hear what you have to say in the interest of the children,” he added.
Addressing the meeting, Velim MLA Cruz Silva said the Goa government should not go blindly by the NEP, but implement the policy as per the needs of the local students and environment. “Southern states are implementing the NEP with changes. The Goa government should also consider the ground reality and act accordingly. When the Goa Board is in existence in Goa, why go by the NEP,” he said, while extending his full support to the ongoing movement.
The meeting culminated in an interactive session, where children were invited on stage to dance and sing along to a rousing anthem of resistance. The song, which resonated deeply with the audience, was a powerful expression of the community’s resolve to fight for their children’s rights and well-being.
As the meeting drew to a close, the audience stood together to sing the National Anthem, their voices filled with emotion and conviction. The moment was a poignant reminder that, as Indians, we are committed to fighting for what is right and just, particularly when it comes to the well-being and education of our children.
Activists Anthony D’Silva, Pratima Coutinho, Cecil Rodrigues, Savio Coutinho, Dipesh Kashinath Naik were amongst the speakers who addressed the meeting.
