The cyberworld & Goan culture

| 19 May 2002 22:25 IST

India needs to create a cyberage student, but not a mere machine, detaching them from their cultural roots.

Goa's chief minister Manohar Parrikar, while presenting the annual budget, precisely aims at this goal.

His plan to 'donate' a personal computer to each and every student of standard XIth has in fact surprised everybody. But it is also possible as the number of such students every year is not beyond 12,000, in total 80 higher secondary schools in a tiny state of Goa.

Launching a Cyberage Student scheme, Parrikar has made a provision of Rs 100 million, so that each and every student can literally take a PC home, at a nominal fee, once he enters XIth standard.

The scheme is bound to have a revolutionary impact on Goan society as the higher secondary schools are spread to even interior parts of the state and not the cities and towns alone.

Thanks to the initiative taken by the erstwhile Congress governments, the present BJP government also took a step forward and completed the task of providing computers to almost all the 365 highschools and 80 higher secondary schools, leave alone the colleges.

"I also plan to integrate latest computer aided teaching techniques in the curriculum of schools and colleges to achieve the dual purpose of enhancing familiarity with computers and simultaneously imparting a qualitative thrust to educational inputs", states Parrikar.

By next month, he has also decided to provide district computer laboratories with state of the art facilities, while also making budgetary provision for special one-time grant of Rs five million for computerisation of colleges.

Creating e-culture appears to be the thrust of every government that comes to power in the state for the last five years, though very little has actually been achieved till date. Even Parrikar talks of e-governance, e-administration and even e-security for e-citizens.

But what needs to be appreciated is also introducing the mid-school meal scheme at primary level for correct nutrition to nurture a healthy mind of a student in financial distress. Goa has also introduced once again interest-free loans to economically backward students.

While jumping into the cyberworld, the state however has not forgotten its cultural roots, be its linguistic skills, music or other forms of performing art that Goa is known for centuries together.

Besides enhancing grants for the development of Konkani and Marathi languages to Rs four million each, Parrikar has also made a special provision of Rs one million for Sanskrit. The scheme of teaching music and performing art has been now extended to almost 100 schools.

While the cultural state is in the process of constructing well-equipped auditoriums in major towns, Parrikar has also announced his plan to have small versions of such Kala Mandirs in every taluka.

And as a tribute to Gantapaswini Mogubai Kurdikar, the great Goan classical singer and mother of, the state will now also have a Sangeet Academy, to make Padmvibhushan Kishori Amonkar's dream come true.

"I hope my efforts would bring hidden talents to the fore and produce more Lata Mangeshkars and Kishori Amonkars who would make Goa proud in years to come", states Parrikar.

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