Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, May 11: Goa Education department’s decision to implement Right to Education (RTE) Act from retrospective effect has sparked unhappiness within the school teachers.

But the state government has said that the schools will have to implement it retrospectively `whether they like it or not.’

Goa Headmasters Association (GHA) has said that the state government has issued the circular at the eleventh hour disturbing their entire set up. The education department, last week, had asked all the schools not to detain any student – from first to eight standard, in the same class and infact promote them to the next class.

The circular came, after the schools already had declared their results, in which several thousand students were failed.

The education department’s circular stems from the letter written by Goa State Commission for Child protection, which had expressed worries that several thousand students were detained in the same class despite RTE disallowing such action.

“There are no modalities or criterias proposed in the circular. The department has impromptu released it,” GHA president Sanjiv Sawant said.

The GHA official said that they will ask the schools not to implement the circular this year. “It should be implemented from the next academic year,” Sawant said adding that as per RTE guidelines the
performance of the student should be graded throughout the year while allowing him to go for the next class.

He said that the student will also have to be given remedial coaching, if he is found slow learner.

The state government, however, has said that the schools cannot disobey education department’s order.

“They cannot say no. They will have to obey the circular whether they like it or not,” state education minister Atanasio Monserratte said.

He said that the schools cannot detain the students, which is clear in the RTE act.

The minister said that he would soon be meeting chief minister Digambar Kamat to discuss the modalities to implement RTE from coming academic year.

The state government is in a fix as after RTE implementation they will have to make their stand on the medium of instruction (MOI) issue, which has seen the parents divided in different factions.

While a group of parents have said that Konkani and marathi should continue as MOI, another group is lobbying for English as MOI.