It is futile to withdraw grants to English medium primary schools. When it's an universal commitment to provide free education to all, no purpose will ever be served if grants to English primary schools is withdrawn or stopped.”
Ramesh Tawadkar,
Sports Minister
....
Tawadkar hits out at BBSM over MoI issue
Says BBSM has unnecessarily raised an unwanted pitch
THE GOAN NETWORK
CANACONA
Canacona MLA and Sports Minister Ramesh Tawadkar has made it clear that while he espouses primary education in the mother tongue, he would not attend any meeting convened by BBSM in Canacona or elsewhere in the State.
Putting forth his views on the Medium of Instruction (MoI) issue, Tawadkar has hit out at the Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM) for unnecessarily raising an unwanted issue.
“I am fully supportive of primary education in the mother tongue and the government is equally supportive in this regard. There was no need for BBSM to launch this anti-government tirade,” remarked Tawadkar.
Asked if he would accept an invitation by BBSM to attend any of its meeting in Canacona or elsewhere in the State, Tawadkar shot back saying, “Definitely not. Where is the need for such meetings? The government’s decision is very clear that education and politics should be apart from each other.”
“Even if invited, I will not attend any meeting convened by BBSM in Canacona or elsewhere in the State,” said Tawadkar, who also holds the ministries of Animal Husbandry, Tribal Welfare and Agriculture.
“The present status quo maintained by the government is the best solution to the MoI issue and there was no need for BBSM to have unnecessarily raised an unwanted pitch against this stand.”
Tawadkar also insisted on the futility of withdrawing grants to English medium primary schools.
“When it's a universal commitment to provide free education to all, no purpose will ever be solved if grants to English primary schools is withdrawn or stopped,” the minister said.
“I am personally engrossed in promoting education and I am of the firm belief that primary education should be in the mother tongue. In recent years, I have opened three pre-primary and two primary schools and all these five schools are in Marathi, the Matr Bhashaa (mother tongue),” he added.
Asked why there had been a higher proportion of Marathi medium schools as opposed to Konkani medium schools in the State, especially when Konkani is the official language, Tawadkar took recourse to historical reasons and popular perceptions.
“See, ever since Goa’s first chief minister Dayanand Bandodkar opened schools, they were all in Marathi medium and it has been a craze since then to learn in Marathi medium. For many Goans, studying in Marathi comes naturally.”
“But since then, the quality of these schools has not been maintained properly and people tend to enroll their children in English medium schools. Even I feel more comfortable to read and write in Marathi, rather than in Konkani.”
“Likewise, Marathi comes to many Goans naturally, though Konkani is our day-to-day language. It’s an open secret with the Goans,” explained Tawadkar.
