PANAJI
With the start of the next academic year due in less than six months, Opposition legislators on Tuesday urged the government to come up with clarity on the status of implementation of the National Education Policy at the pre-primary level as managements of schools and also parents were apprehensive about it.
At least two legislators -- AAP's Venzy Viegas and GFP's Vijai Sardesai -- raised the issue as they participated in the discussion on the motion of thanks to the Governor's address of Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai, moved by the treasury benches.
Interestingly, several legislators across the board and from both sides of the aisle in the House picked the glaring omission of the vexed Mhadei issue by Pillai in his nearly hour-long address delivered on Monday.
The motion of thanks was moved by the ruling party MLA from Mayem, Premendra Shet and was seconded by Kedar Naik and Rajesh Phaldesai. Members of the Opposition, including Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao, Viegas, Sardesai and Carlos Alvares Ferreira also moved amendments to the motion of thanks.
Viegas raised multiple red flags in the State government's plans to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) from the 2023-24 academic year set to commence in June this year, including the failure to finalise the State's curriculum framework under the policy.
He also raised the issue of the qualifications stipulated in the NEP for the Director of the State Council for Education, Training and Research (SCERT) not matching with those of the incumbent.
The Governor in his address has stated that the State will start implementing the NEP progressively in educational institutions, he said.
"The government must clarify. Bring clarity. Say clearly and inform all schools, aided as well as unaided, that the NEP implementation will begin at the pre-primary level, at nursery level from 2024-25 and not now in June," Viegas urged the government, adding that there is apprehension on the issue among parents as well as management of schools.
He also claimed that the State Task Force which was mandated to draw up the curriculum framework has overrun its tenure in June last year and wondered who was shouldering the responsibility now.
Sardesai too raised the issue of the ambiguity of NEP implementation in the State. He also accused the State government of blindly following instructions from the Centre without applying mind.
Meanwhile, several members who participated in the discussion on the motion raised their constituency-specific development issues, even as the Governor came in for praise for his initiative to give financial aid to cancer patients and those with kidney problems needing dialysis. He was also praised for his initiative to tour all the constituencies of the State.
Opposition members also said that the Governor's address did not give a proper picture of what the ground realities are.
Aldona MLA Carlos Alvares Ferreira questioned the figure of 33 million passengers to be handled annually by the new airport at Mopa after the completion of the fourth phase.
Ferreira claimed that the concession document with GMR pegs the figure at 13-odd million, even as he claimed that naming the airport with just the first name of the late Manohar Parrikar was an anomaly, urging the government to rectify it.
Ferreira also lamented the decline in the quality of tourists visiting the State and urged the government to overhaul the whole tourism brand.
Quepem MLA Altone D'Costa raised the issue of the neglect of the tourism potential of Betul in his Quepem constituency despite its housing sites of tourism and historical value including the fort.
