MARGAO
The Global Romi Lipi Abhiyan (GRLA) has highlighted a media report dated May 29, 1963, barely two years after Goa’s Liberation, which reported that the Education Department had approved the teaching of Roman-script Konkani to primary school children at the request of their parents.
GRLA Convenor Kennedy Afonso said this was significant evidence that Romi Konkani already had substantial public demand in Goa in 1963.
However, the same government order stipulated that the examination would be conducted compulsorily in Devanagari.
The GRLA convenor questioned the logic of this policy. “If children were allowed to learn Konkani in Roman script, why were they not allowed to demonstrate their learning in the same script? The compulsory Devanagari examination could only undermine the purpose of introducing Roman-script instruction,” he said.
He added: “It also raises an important historical question: How many children actually benefited from this programme, and what happened to it after the initial four-year period?”
He said GRLA believes this 1963 document deserves serious examination because it demonstrates that the demand for Romi Konkani education is not a recent development — it existed at the very beginning of Goa’s post-Liberation educational administration. Based on this historical evidence, the Government of Goa should seriously consider introducing Romi Konkani into schools in Goa, he added.
