PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday said his government took the initiative to implement the National Education Policy 2020 because it would never have happened otherwise.
"The NEP focuses not just on bookish knowledge but practical skills, ethics and morals," Sawant said. He was replying to the discussion on the demands for grants pertaining to school education, higher education, technical education, and other portfolios under his charge.
Sawant said the State Council for Education Research and Training (SCERT) has played a pivotal role in the NEP implementation. The Chief Minister said the SCERT has been made "autonomous" and is continuously engaged in training teachers with the NEP curriculum in mind.
Master trainers have been designated to conduct the training programmes for teachers, he said, and they are training teachers to become trainers themselves so that eventually all teachers will be adequately trained to take the NEP implementation forward.
In schools, Sawant said, the government has begun making direct transfers of money to the accounts of parents so that they themselves can buy raincoats and uniforms of their choice for their wards. Sawant also said that his government has decided to begin replacing existing Balrath buses which have crossed 15 years, in a phased manner.
"Those schools which joined the scheme first will get new buses first. Some buses which manage to get fitness certificates from the RTO will be permitted to continue operations. However, replacement of scrapped buses of the Balrath scheme will begin this year itself, but in a phased manner," Sawant said.
Sawant also said that the funds to offset operational costs of the Balrath buses will be given to school managements all at once in September for the whole year, even as he added that no new applications from schools for the Balrath scheme will be entertained.
Referring to criticism from the Opposition earlier during the discussion that the government had failed to encourage research and improve the profile of higher educational institutions, including government colleges, Sawant said that a research unit has been opened at Goa University. "Two incubators, one in bioengineering and another for the agriculture sector, have also been established there," Sawant said.
He also said that the government has taken the initiative to establish new campuses for six government colleges, including the Goa Pharmacy College, Goa Architecture College and Goa College of Art. "These campuses will all be built at a common location on the Taleigao plateau, where Goa University has already transferred land to the State government," he said.
Sawant also said that the State government's scheme to disburse interest-free loans to students for higher studies is functioning efficiently, and nearly 98% of the beneficiary students are repaying the loans on time.
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‘Humanise education, don’t saffronise it’: Alemao slams govt on NEP
PANAJI: Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao urged the State government to "humanise" school education rather than "saffronising" the curriculum, even as he said that most schools in Goa are infrastructure-deficient to switch to the 'National Education Policy' (NEP).
Alemao said schools lacked enough room, had insufficiently equipped laboratories and other infrastructure, besides gender-specific toilets, which are very necessary if the NEP is to be meaningfully implemented. He said the government (Directorate of Education) should focus on ensuring schools are allocated sufficient expert trainers so that faculty are well-versed with the NEP curricula.
He also faulted the government policy of laying the red carpet for private universities, which he alleged are only eyeing prime land in Goa. He also questioned the credibility of some of these private universities and warned that this policy will end up making Goa a "scrapyard" of universities.
Alemao also painted a sorry picture of the current status of some of Goa's most prestigious professional colleges, including Goa Engineering College, Goa College of Art, Goa Pharmacy College and Goa College of Architecture, accusing the government of neglecting these institutions.
