HC blocks MoI implementation till Monday

GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 12 July 2011 17:43 IST

Pending order on the interim stay for the government decision on Medium of Instruction, the high court today directed to block the implementation till the government files its reply by next Monday.

Advocate General Adv Subodh Kantak today sought time to tell the court what action the government has taken to implement the recommendations of the monitoring committee.

Three parents and an educationist Dr Pandurang Nadkarni have filed a petition in the High Court against the government’s decision to give grants to English medium primary schools.

The division bench of the High Court consisting of Justice S A Bobde and Justice F M Reis asked what steps the government has taken about the discrepancies pointed out by the monitoring committee.

The division bench also sought to know whether the decision would be implemented in phases or would wait till the next academic year.

In response, the AG sought one-week time to consult the government in this regard.

The monitoring committee set up by the government had cautioned the government about several legal and technical obstacles, if the decision is implemented in hurry.

Petitioner’s counsel Adv Atmaram Nadkarni argued that the government should have taken the decision at least six months in advance.

He also pointed out that providing basic facilities and training programmes for teachers on priority have not been taken into consideration.

According to Adv Nadkarni, the MoI decision does not come under the purview of the cabinet but state advisory board of the education department.

He also argued that the government has violated its assurance given in the Assembly to maintain status quo on the issue.

The issue of non-availability of text books in the middle of the year was also pointed out.  

AG Kantak claimed that implementation of the decision will not create any confusion. He said in a similar manner, the education department had gone ahead with implementation of NCERT text books when the books were not in hand.

He also argued that the flaws highlighted by monitoring committee will not affect the decision.

Adv Kantak said the decision would facilitate underprivileged students who could not avail primary education in English due to high amount of fees charged by unaided English schools all this time.

He also informed the high court that 27,000 students out of 30,000 have opted for English medium.

Meanwhile, the Diocesan Society of Education today intervened into the petition to present their side. The DSE wants to shift from Konkani to English medium.

The DSE argued that text books are available on the Internet while the DSE is fully equipped with English teachers. 


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