MARGAO
A Teachers’ Town Hall organised by former GPCC president Amit Patkar on Sunday saw Goa Forward Party chief Vijai Sardesai, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Venzy Viegas and the Congress leader share the platform and pledge to work towards forming a government “for the people, by the people and of the people” in Goa.
The joint appearance of the three leaders at the event, held at Gomant Vidya Niketan, has triggered speculation about a possible alignment of political forces ahead of the 2027 Goa Legislative Assembly elections.
The leaders promised that, if voted to power, their government would accord top priority to the education sector, recognise teachers as a key pillar of society and make education the focus of the 2027 budget estimates, with the highest possible budgetary allocation.
Sardesai went a step further, seeking Lord Ganesha’s blessings and praying for wisdom among the people to usher in a new government in 2027.
Speaking at the event, Sardesai said a government led by the Opposition would do away with temporary teaching appointments and make stability for the teaching community its first priority.
“If our government comes to power, there will be no temporary teachers. We will take the first decision on the education sector. We will provide stability to the teaching community. This is our promise,” Sardesai said.
Sardesai and Viegas also criticised the BJP-led government over its allocation for education. They claimed that only 3.6 per cent of the GDP was being spent on education, against the six per cent target prescribed under the National Education Policy (NEP).
“We are committed to providing six per cent of GDP for education if our government comes to power in Goa,” Sardesai said.
Viegas congratulated Patkar for organising the Town Hall and providing a platform for teachers to raise their grievances. After hearing the concerns of members of the teaching community, he said the political leaders were “here to bring a change”.
“We would like all like-minded parties to come together and put education first on the agenda of the new government. Allow us to form the government and ensure that all schools are part of the education system,” Viegas said.
Patkar said the rights and concerns of teachers should rise above political differences and called for Goa to come together in support of those responsible for shaping the future of the State.
“I sincerely thank Vijai-bab Sardesai and Capt Venzy Viegas for being part of this Town Hall. We may belong to different political parties and may have differences on many issues, but the cause of Goa’s teachers cannot belong to one party. When teachers are suffering, every responsible political leader has a duty to stand with them,” Patkar said.
“When more than 450 teaching and non-teaching employees were waiting for their salaries, I did not ask which party should get the credit. I approached Vijai because he could raise the issue effectively in the Assembly. The issue was about employees receiving their rightful salary, not about whose political flag was behind the demand,” Patkar said.
He called for a comprehensive, time-bound review of issues affecting pre-primary, primary, secondary and higher-secondary teachers, vocational and lecture-basis teachers, librarians, contractual employees and non-teaching staff.
