Goa accommodates English as medium of instruction

Updated on: Friday, May 27, 2011

Goa government announced that English would be a medium of instruction (MOI) along with Konkani and Marathi in the state.

The decision comes against the backdrop of fear raised by section of parents and academicians that providing grants to English-medium primary schools would spell doom for the Konkani and Marathi schools.

After a cabinet meeting on the issue, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat announced the decision to provide grants to English schools, saying that "even poor parents from the villages would now be given an opportunity to teach their child in English medium."

Kamat said that government would give permission to the aided primary schools to open classes in English medium, provided they had a required number of students.

Parents would have to give in writing that they wanted to change the medium to English.

Further, the Chief Minister said, those schools which were adopting English as MOI, would have Konkani or Marathi as a compulsory subject till the SSC Examination.

The unaided English schools would also enjoy the grants from the state government provided they have proper infrastructure and vernacular language as a compulsory subject till SSC.

State government has formed a monitoring committee headed by Education Secretary V P Rao, to ensure that the schools adhere to the norms laid down while giving the grants.

Goa accommodates English as medium of instruction

More Education news