NT NETWORK
PANAJI
The Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM) has threatened to launch a statewide agitation if the state government fails to approve all applications received by the directorate of education for 24 new Konkani schools and 14 Marathi schools for the academic year 2018-19.
BBSM also demanded to withdraw the permission granted to English medium primary school on Kadamba plateau and sought the reasons for granting permission to start the school.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, BBSM leader Subhash Velingkar, along with advocate Uday Bhembre and Arvind Bhatikar, said “The education department is under tremendous pressure to delay granting of permissions to 38 new Konkani and Marathi schools in the state. We also demand withdrawal of permission to the Gera school.”
“BBSM is warning the government that we will resort to statewide demonstrations if the permission is not revoked,” said Velingkar, informing that this decision was taken at the central committee meeting of BBSM.
Alleging that the delay and denial of permission to Konkani and Marathi medium schools has hit Konkani and Marathi lovers hard, Velingkar said, “Last year 26 applications for Konkani and Marathi medium schools were rejected, but granting of permission to English medium schools continued. In 2012 and also in 2014, the BJP government had reiterated its stand that it would not allow any new English medium schools. Moreover this year English medium school at the Gera project has been permitted by the government.”
Quoting data received under RTI, Velingkar said “The student strength of the government primary schools in Goa has been on a decline. In next four years, according to government data, all 409 Marathi and Konkani medium government primary schools will face closure because they have less than 20 students for which government needs to be blamed over failure to encourage early education in the mother tongue.”
“Out of the 800 primary schools under the education department, only 5 schools are running with full-time functional grade heads and unless government acts now, things are only going to get worse with all schools going ‘headless’,” said Velingkar.
He further criticised the neglectful attitude of state government to education system of the state that has collapsed and quantity has replaced quality.