PANAJI: The Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) on Saturday questioned the Sawant-led government’s stand on stopping vocational courses in higher secondary schools across Goa from the next academic year, saying that any unilateral decision in this regard will hinder the development of the younger generation’s skill set.
“Instead of creating employment for our local youth, this government is interested in taking unilateral decisions against their interest, creating more and more joblessness. We request the government to spell out their intentions clearly as to why they want to stop these vocational courses all of sudden after almost 32 years. This will not only cause several problems for over 250 odd teaching and non teaching staff, but to over 4000 students every year who admit themselves to different vocational streams in Std XI,” GPCC president Girish Chodankar said, in his ongoing tirade against the government.
“When a government thinks of making changes to the educational system, stake holders’ opinion should be taken into account. However, we see that the current dispensation is creating polices secretly, and that is not the best way forward for our already depleting economy. We want the government to have a dialogue and discuss the pros and cons and make a proper road map for the future before arriving to any decision on stopping these vocational courses,” Girish added.
Girish also questioned the government as to what alternate arrangements have been made to accommodate these 250 odd staff and over 4000 students who want to pursue their education through vocational streams.
Praising the 1988 Congress government for their vision to introduce vocational courses in Goa, Girish said that it’s thanks to their vision, lakhs of students across generations have developed their hidden skill sets, many of whom have gone to land themselves jobs in big companies while others started a business on their own.
