Goa English medium row Reacting to the May 25 decision of the state government to allow English (together with Konkani and Marathi) as media of instruction in schools, the Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM) likened the Congress-led Digambar Kamat government to the state’s former Portuguese rulers “who tried to finish local culture by displacing local languages”. Addressing a press conference in Panaji, BBSM executive member Subhash Velingkar said that according Konkani and Marathi the status of medium of instruction languages while granting the same status to English, will “sabotage” local languages. “The Portuguese Governor Vassalo de Silva had tried to wipe out Goan culture in 1958. Silva had recommended to Portugal’s dictator (Antonio de Oliveira) Salazar that the Devanagari script and local languages be eliminated,” he said. However, chief minister Kamat justifies the government’s decision to allow English as a medium of instruction following “many memoranda” submitted to the state government by “thousands of parents”. Uttarakhand Schools upgradation drive The education, water and power departments of the state government have been directed to work in tandem to provide potable water, electricity and toilets in all state schools within a fixed time frame. Subhash Kumar, chief secretary of the BJP-led state govern-ment, gave these instructions during a weekly review meeting following a directive of the Supreme Court to provide basic amenities in all schools, according to a press statement issued by the state government in Dehradun on May 25. Reporting on the fast progress being made by the government to comply with the Supreme Court’s directive, Kumar says that since May 18, 307 schools have been provided with drinking water facilities, while an action plan has been prepared to facilitate drinking water provision for 660 schools through pipelines, hand pumps and rainwater harvesting. To build toilets in 1,103 schools this year, officials have been directed to prepare a monthly target plan and complete installation by October. Moreover the Uttarakhand Power Corporation has undertaken electri-fication of 5,000 schools from June 1 and drawn up a time frame for wiring the remaining 5,526 schools in the state. Rajasthan Teachers eligibility test upheld A two-judge bench of the Rajasthan high court set aside a stay on the state’s teachers eligibility test mandated by the Congress-led Ashok Gehlot state government for all B.Ed graduates aspiring for teaching jobs. With its May 20 judgement, the high court dismissed all writ petitions challenging the legality of the Rajasthan Teachers Eligibility Test (RTET). “According to fresh orders of the court, there will be no minimum marks criteria for graduates from arts, commerce and science streams who completed their B.Ed before 2007. Students who have completed their B.Ed between 2007 and 2009 and secured at least 45 percent as general candidates, will be eligible to appear for RTET,” says Kuldeep Mathur, counsel of the National Council for Teachers Education (NCTE), which was also impleaded in the case. Madhya Pradesh Sex-for-marks scandal The madhya pradesh government proposes to take strong action against all involved in the sex-for-marks scandal at the…
