By
| 12 Jun, 2016, 06:30AM IST
If
claims of good governance in Goa are true then the Medium of
Instruction (MoI) controversy ought to have been resolved by now. But
thanks to the deceptive and toxic politics prevalent in Goa which allows
problems to fester endlessly only for being exploited electorally.
While the Right to Education Act (RTE) is meant to get children into
school, it unfortunately does little to insulate the child from
subjection to the mental trauma repeatedly inflicted by toxic political
interference in the education system. And so, the RTE Act which
inherently respects the right of the child and its parents to choose the
medium of instruction for education has been left open by the Goa
Government for the wild interpretation of quacks and fanatics claiming
expertise on a child’s cognitive development in school. The victims of
abuse in this power game are the primary school kids who are being
bullied and boxed into the realm of cultural fundamentalism which is
predominantly driven by a particular dominant caste and religious
thinking which appears to be nervous about the idea of democratic and
universal thinking.
The
lame excuse forwarded by the opponents to State funding for primary
education in English medium by the Goa Government is that ‘nowhere in
the country has such a policy for funding primary education in a foreign
language been implemented’. With this argument the fanatics
conveniently forget another reality wherein no other State or Union
Territory in this country is known to have two mother tongues as is the
case in Goa. So also, that every State Government takes pride in
funding education in its ‘Rajya Bhasha’ (State language), which is one
and only one, and not any of the other ‘Bharatiya Bhashas’ (Indian
languages) which get shoved down Goan throats through the backdoor as
‘Sanskruti’ (culture).
On
account of the political and cultural influences down history lane, Goa
has developed its own unique pluralistic culture which stands out to be
in sharp contrast to the cultures prevalent in the rest of India. The
global exposure of a sizeable section of Goans down the centuries to
western influences has led to languages from the Indo-European family of
languages getting assimilated into the Goan culture. A Goan may
sentimentally acknowledge that Konkani or Marathi is his mother tongue
but the language used in social interaction could be very different. It
is not uncommon in Goa that a Bhasha fanatic when spoken to in Konkani
is more likely to respond in English. Therefore to simply assume or
presume that a particular vernacular language is the mother tongue of a
child for purposes of educational instruction merely by its Goan lineage
is scientifically erroneous.
While
the HRD Ministry under the BJP Government is believed to be
systematically destroying peace within the renowned Universities in the
country, the situation is not much different when it comes to the
education system in Goa. The repeated distinction between Church and
non-Church educational institutions being drawn by the BJP Government
and its fraternal ideological actors is mischievous. While those
opposing government grants to English primary schools may vehemently
deny any communal undertones, the repeated emphasis on ‘Church schools’
and attack on the Archbishop with some BJP leaders in Government arguing
for Church dominance in education to be neutralised only goes to prove
the inverse. And given the tone and tenor of the opposition to English
medium, if one had to consider a hypothetical scenario wherein majority
of the schools demanding grants for English medium in primary schools
were non-Church schools, would the arguments of the Bhasha fanatics
remain the same, or would there be a U-Turn?
There
is hardly any doubt that the MoI has become a tool in the hands of
religious fanatics for social exploitation and political polarisation
and it is not at all surprising when this same group campaigning for
‘Bhasha Suraksha’ also screams foul over granting dual citizenship and
organising the Heritage festival at Fontainhas. As for a bunch of
clerics providing secular decoration to a fanatic platform, one wonders
whether their inability to comprehend the larger communal game plan is
about that cognitive deficiency resulting from exposure to Portuguese or
English MoI in primary school. When the very political, economic and
education systems in this country are largely influenced by the West and
huge costs incurred on the PM’s foreign jaunts to attract foreign
investment, it is sheer hypocrisy to oppose funding for English medium
primary schools.
It
is time for Goa’s children to take a cue from Pink Floyd’s song ‘just a
brick in the wall’ and rise up to scream, “Hey fanatics, leave us kids
alone!” If children are competent enough to discuss civic issues in ‘Bal
Panchayats’ then they are also capable of choosing their preferred MoI
in school. What children in Goa need is ‘Azaadi’ (freedom) from
politicians and fanatics in the education system.
http://www.heraldgoa.in/Review/Voice-Of-Opinion/Medium-of-Instruction-vs-Indoctrination/102910.html
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