Goa does a first. Approves a sports policy for itself

In a bid to encourage sports activities in the state of Goa, the state cabinet gave its nod for a special policy for sports for the state which is probably the first such policy endorsed by any state in the Indian union. The policy which will give a boost to sports and other physical activities in the state, is expected to be implemented soon, after due notification.

The policy which was first prepared as a draft plan in the year 1998, took more than a decade for the current "Goa sports policy" to become a reality.According to the policy, physical education and sports is expected to be an optional academic subject beginning from the next academic year.

The policy aims to ensure that studies would not be a bottleneck for sporting successes and students would no longer be hesitant to take part in state or national duty as their absence from the class would be duly considered as "on duty" and therefore backed up by arrangements for conduct of special and supplementary examinations for those students.

A new "sports merit marks" will be awarded to sportspersons of Goa who have excelled at the state, national and the international level,which would be a maximum 3 % aggregate. Also 3 percent seats at all educational institutions in the state, excluding professional colleges are being considered for exclusive reservation for such sportspersons.

Reservations for jobs is also an integral part of the policy and 3% jobs are expected to be reserved at government, semi-government, autonomous and corporate bodies which enjoy government funding. The sports policy is expected to burden the exchequer to the tune of 110 crores every year.

The government of Goa aims to create an awareness and a sports culture from the primary and pre-primary school level and broadening the scope of physical education and sports activities through schools, village panchayats, sports clubs etc for the development of a healthy and competitive personality and achieving excellence at all levels of academic interests

Goa govt appoints panel to check grievances of parents

With parents of children in private unaided schools of Goa deciding to take recourse to legal action to enforce the rules applicable to such schools as per the Goa School education act 1984, the Goa government appears to have woken up to the reality facing it and has now belatedly appointed a committee to introspect the grievances of parents on the issue of fee hikes in private recognised unaided schools in the state of Goa.

The panel is expected to hear the members of the private unaided school managements, the unaided school parents association of aggrieved parents, other people in the education field and subsequently submit its report to the government within a period of one month

The members of the panel are former education director Suman Pednekar who heads the committee, Surendra Sirsat ( retired principal of Kushe Higher secondary school Mapusa, C K Mathew ( retired Principal  Holy trinity HSSS Benaulim ) D P Pednekar ( retired principal of Naik Higher secondary school Curchorem) and Avinash Nasnodkar ( AEO - legal, Education Department)

Among other things the committee is expected to deliberate on matters such as : the scope of references of the committee with whether in terms of section 13 of the Goa school education act 1984, the hike of fees by private unaided schools is necessary to implement sixth pay commission scales to their staff thereby bringing them on par with the employees of the corresponding status in schools run by the government.

The other aspect to be analysed by the panel is whether the exorbitant hike of fees by the unaided schools is justified with respect to providing better infrastructure facilities and quality education for better development of the child as claimed by such schools

Transparency in accounts of unaided schools is another bone of contention expressed by the aggrieved parents and this issue is bound to invite suggestions from the panel to resolve it with more transparency in audited accounts.

The panel may also explore the possibility of making further provisions with regard to the fee structure  in unaided schools in Goa, in the Goa school education act and rules and make recommendations accordingly.

Swine flu gets Goa worried : Leave rules relaxed in schools

Swine flu deaths in the neighborhood of Goa at Pune, has left the establishment in Goa worried and anxious about the dangerous dimensions of the fast spreading H1N1 virus in the country. So far, the city of Pune in Maharashtra was the worst hit by the disease with four deaths confirmed while another six more persons were reported to be currently battling for their lives after being afflicted with the deadly virus. So far the country has seen over seven people claimed by the dreaded disease of swine flu mainly from Pune, Mumbai and one death from Chennai.

Goa, in the meanwhile is grappling with patients regularly showing up with the virus which so far has not proved fatal in the state. In the latest round of people suspected to be infected with swine flu, four people have been currently identified and their throat swabs have been sent to the national Institute of communicable diseases New Delhi on the 9th August 2009 (Monday). While two of these persons had arrived from Pune and Mumbai, the third is a woman from Brazil while the fourth is a man who had come in contact with a swine flu patient.

With the virus threatening to spread and new cases being detected everyday, the Goa government has however ruled out the closure of schools and colleges unlike some swine flu affected areas of the country. The administration has however stated that teachers, staff members and students showing symptoms of swine flu will be allowed to stay home for a period of upto ten days and waived the need to produce a medical certificate for the specified period.

The state authorities are also finding it to be a herculean task to screen every person entering Goa for Swine flu and the health authorities  are instead encouraging people who suspect that they may have contracted the virus , to get themselves screened voluntarily.

It is found that out of the 40 suspected cases of swine flu in Goa, around thirteen were detected through screening by the swine flu squad at Dabolim airport but the remaining 27 persons had approached the government hospitals or a private doctor on their own volition thereby being referred to the swine flu squad. The state figures have reported that over 14 persons had directly approached the government hospitals once they suspected to have contracted the influenza while around 13 individuals were known to be referred by private practitioners.

Any person who may have traveled from a swine flu-affected country or state in the last 10 days and showed symptoms of influenza A (H1N1) that include fever, cough, sore throat and difficulty in breathing should immediately contact the Goa Medical college and hospital Bambolim or the cottage hospital at Chicalim.

Government agencies in Goa are expected to follow up on their meetings with private doctors in Goa by launching a massive campaign to inform and educate the Goan public about swine flu and its dos, dont's and necessary precautions.

Meanwhile Goans in Pune studying in various colleges were suddenly left stranded without a college to attend or a hostel to reside when both such places were mostly closed down asking students to leave in view of the swine flu outbreak ion the area. As a result the large Goan population in Pune is forced to make their way back to Goa with no place to go.

Goa students need to learn traffic rules in School

The need to impart traffic rule education in Goan schools came to the fore in the assembly when the opposition MLAs maintained that the transport ministry had failed in its promise to make knowledge on traffic regulations as a part of school curriculum and no steps in this direction had so far been taken. However regular challans were being issued to defaulters with no education measures being undertaken by the government to ensure that the alarming rise in the number of road accidents in the state had arrested.

Mr Francis D’Souza, the Deputy opposition leader stressed on the imperative need for the procedure of acquiring a driving license to be made more stringent and lamented that bribes of Rs 500 were enough for anybody to get a licence and urged that unless the people are educated in traffic discipline, the licences should not be issued.

Also Mr D’Souza advised the government that improvement in road engineering aimed at widening accident prone zones would go a long way in reducing accidents considerably in Goa.

Road safety programmes need more teeth to be highlighted effectively to the community in Goa and good highways and one ways were the need of the hour said Mr D’Souza

Goa government buckles to vernacular theory

The current medium of instruction as an issue which has been plaguing Goan parents, who have been arguing for the cause of English as a medium of choice in Goan schools has taken a hit for the moment.The Goa assembly proceedings on Friday July 24 2009 when the issue was expected to be a hot topic on the agenda was quietly subdued as the two MLAs who were vociferously supporting the cause of English as a medium of instruction aimed at empowering parents to choose for their children, withdrew their resolutions aimed at giving English education as a medium in the primary aided schools in Goa

The two congress MLAs Agnelo Fernandes and Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco were however apparently assured of a change in the policy and have appeared to have set the tone for the government to do a serious rethink on the issue. Meanwhile the education Minister Mr Babush Monserrate felt that the local Konkani language needs to be protected and suggested  an enforcement of Konkani as a subject  from class I to X.

Mr Monserrate also dwelled on the fees structure of private unaided schools in Goa and indicated that taking control of these fee structures was also an option before the government and quoted that the Goa School Education Act and Rules prohibit exorbitant fees and expressed the need to implement these rules.

However the latest backtracking of the two congress MLAs over the issue is seen as a move by the congress party to avoid any controversies regarding the issue while silently endeavouring to bring about the necessary change in keeping with the aspirations of the Goan people .

Goa High court extends stay on school fee hikes

The aggrieved parents who have approached the high court to intervene in their grievances relating to arbitrary school fee hikes by private unaided schools under the banner of All Goa Unaided schools Parents Association,(AGUSPA) were relieved when the high court of Bombay at Goa extended the interim stay on approval of fee hikes by government recognised private unaided schools in Goa till August 4.

The matter came up following a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by AGUSPA. The advocate general Mr Subodh kantak informed the bench that the government had already constituted a committee to look into the accounts of government recognised unaided private schools in the state of Goa.

AGUSPA maintained that the fee hikes were completely arbitrary and that all their efforts to elicit cooperation from the government and the directorate of education to curb the "commercialisation of education" had failed and therefore the only option available to them was to move the high court.

While AGUSPA was against any fee hikes, the association was of the view that a committee of experts should be formed to work on the financial matters pertaining to the unaided schools and prepare a report on whether salaries as per the Sixth pay commission recommendations could be paid to teachers within the current existing fee structure.

AGUSPA held the Directorate of education responsible for the arbitrary fee hikes and maintained that the failure of DoE to meticulously enforce the Goa School education Act 1984 through section 19, sub section (3) and (4) which deals with the fees and other charges to be collected by schools , has led to the present situation where education in Goa has become commercialised.

Seeking to correct the system through the PIL, AGUSPA stated that the ongoing battle is aimed at streamlining erring managements and trustees of unaided schools and the DoE which has denied justice for long to parents who have been unduly exploited due to inaction.

AGUSPA has also sought that the DoE should constitute an authority to inspect and audit the account statements of recognised private unaided schools in Goa which they pointed out is mandatory under Section 10, sub-section 7 and under the rules framed in the Goa education Act 1984.

Goa to administer Konkani training to all govt servants

In their efforts to implement the state's official language act for administrative purposes, the directorate of official language has prepared a 85 page Konkani booklet for the use of government servants and IAS officers. Lessons for the officials in the knowledge of the state's official language, Konkani, are expected soon and the department has printed over 2000 copies of the Konkani manual meant for this purpose which covers the basics of the Konkani language to acclimatise all government officers with the language of Goa.

(pictures in this post are for illustration only - contents are not part of the actual booklet)

The directorate has been set up to ensure the effective implementation of the state's official language and has prepared the handbook for government officials who are still not conversant with the language. Teachers for this purpose are yet to be selected and the number of teachers will depend on the number of employees to be trained for a period of one month. The teachers are to be paid a honorarium to impart the teaching in Konkani.

Essentially, the book is a compilation of basic Konkani words and phrases used in daily life in Goa and their translations. The effort is expected to come in handy for daily administrative tasks. The syllabus of the booklet has been prepared based upon the recommendations of a committee headed by Tanaji Halarnkar and is on the lines of the Central governments Hindi teaching scheme. The committee was comprised of linguists such as Suresh Borkar, Edward D'Lima, Mukesh Thali and Damodar Ghanekar.

The department has so far received names of over 500 employees to undergo the training in the first phase. These include officers and IAS officers who may have been deputed to Goa and have no knowledge of the official language of the state.

Subsequent to the training which will last for 25 days of one month, a test/examination is expected to be conducted which will be based on the time schedule issued by the directorate of Official language.

Goa drops plans for a private medical college

Instead of allowing a private medical college to be set up in the state, the Goa government has now decided that it will instead increase the current intake capacity of the sole medical college in the state, the Goa Medical college by planning to increase the number of seats by another 100 students. The government will therefore approach the medical council of India seeking its approval to increase the number of seats in the undergraduate course in Medicine.

Additionally, the health minister indicated plans of the Goa government to link various government-run hospitals to the Goa Medical College in order to build up the required capacity for starting the diplomat of national board courses in the state.

TAG to urge Goa Board to include tiatr in school books

The newly formed Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG) as a part of its ambitious plan to re-invigorate the essence of the tiatr for Goa and Goans, is set to request the Goa board and the textbook committee to include the tiatr in the school curriculum either as a lesson or as a part of dramatics which is currently being taught as an optional subject in many schools in the state.

According to the President of TAG, Mr Tomazinho Cardozo, tiatr plays a very important and relevant part in Goan society and is known to have had a major role in mobilising the public at the time of the opinion poll which played the most historic chapter to ensure that Goa remained as a separate state and did not get merged into Maharashtra. Songs and duets from tiatr are also known to strike an emotional chord with people in the state.

Mr Cardozo stressed that besides being a part of Goan culture, tiatr deals with social issues such as drugs and casinos and emphasized that anything that goes against the interest of Goans is brought to the fore by artistes from tiatr and said that students in modern Goa should be made aware about this fact.

Among the other things, to push the cause of tiatr far and wide in Goa and outside, Mr Cardozo lined out a series of activities that the TAG plans to undertake which include organising of seminars and lectures in schools and colleges on the different aspects of tiatr in Goa.

TAG also wants to document the history and experiences of the old tiatr artistes by interviewing them and recording their experiences on films. Tag will endeavour to document the history of tiatr by publishing books on it past legacy.

Preservation of tiatr literature is also high on the TAG agenda and it has resolved to publish scripts, one act plays and lyrics with the musical scores wherever possible.

A museum is being planned in the state of Goa which will house tiatr material in the form of manuscripts, handwritten lyrics, printed books, old records, CDs, DVDs which may be scattered around the state with government authorities as well as private individuals and collectors and will be exhibited at this museum. this collection of material is expected to begin this year in 2009 and go on uptill the museum is set up.

Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG) which was set up by the government officially in February 2009 is expecting a funding of Rs 60 lakh towards its various activities. On the anvil is also a plan to encourage tiatr production by youth, technical workshops and seminars to upgrade the quality of tiatrs, promoting the art form as a means of communication outside the state and setting up a website for the academy.

TAG also wants to encourage and revive the use of wind instruments in tiatr and will host a festival of award winning dramas. Artistes of yesteryears will be remembered and honoured through various activities and persons documenting their works will b e provided incentives. A directory of tiatr artistes is also expected very soon. TAG in the meanwhile is also awaiting a premises in Panjim which has already been identified a provision for which is already made by the government which is reportedly to the tune of Rs 1.5 crore.

Goa's two MLAs argue for English

The congress legislature party meeting was a divided house when it came to implementing English as a medium of instruction for government aided primary schools when they met on Thursday and only two MLAs in the current congress dispensation in Goa, were strongly advocating the need to start government primary schools in English as a solution to the crisis type situation faced by the schools.

The demand was made by Curtorim MLA Mr Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco and Calangute MLA Agnelo Fernandes who both demanded that Goan parents be given a freedom of choice to choose between English and Konkani as a medium of instruction to their children in government aided primary schools in Goa. However  dissenting voices came from Cortalim MLA Mauvin Godinho and Churchill Alemao who were reportedly not in favour and objected saying that people in Goa had fought to make konkani the official language of the state.

It is common knowledge in Goa that many people including legislators are sending their own children to private schools in distant places with English as a medium of instruction which has brought down the enrolments in most government schools and the standard of the surviving  government schools has also declined

The two congress MLAs Mr Agnelo Fernandes and Mr Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco are expected to move a private members bill in the forthcoming session of the assembly to facilitate English as a medium of instruction

Goa presses anti-ragging law

The Goa Governor Dr SS Sidhu revealed today that the government of Goa has passed a bill " The Goa prohibition of ragging bill, 2008" which has been signed by him and has now been notified as the Goa Act of 2009. The act pending since 2007 seems to have been notified after pressure from the central government to enact such a law to curb the menace all over the country.

The act gives the heads of educational institutions, a judicial authority to file fact-finding reports in ragging cases and makes the heads abettors in the act of ragging if they fail to take cognisance of the complaints made to them.

Mr Sidhu said that the practice of  ragging has become rampant and has now acquired serious proportions which has cost the sanity and even lives of some students. The Governor expressed satisfaction that the Goa government has passed such a bill. The bill  which was framed in 2006 was passed by the assembly in 2007.

According to the article 4 of the act, the principal of the institution acquires the powers to act as a judge. Any incident of ragging has to be reported to the principal. Within 7 days of receiving any complaint of ragging the principal is expected top prepare a factual report.

A student who is found to be guilty could end up being rusticated from the institute and depending upon the gravity of the act, the principal is entitles to refer the complaint to the police for further action. The principal, if found failing to take any action, would be considered to be an abettor to the act.

With colleges and schools reopening for the current academic year, the act seems to have been enforced at the appropriate time as the governor hoped for its effective implementation. The governor also stressed that it is the primary responsibility of the management of educational institutions and teachers to prevent ragging and also advised parents and guardians to counsel their wards to behave more responsibly while interacting with their juniors in the institutes.

Goa University to give education facilities a boost

The Goa university seems to have decided that they wont let the silver jubilee year of its establishment go down like any other ordinary year. In fact in commemoration of its silver jubilee the university has made a series of announcements aimed at enhancing its educational facilities including adding new departments to its list which include departments of mass communication and media research, hotel management and tourism with central and state government aid and also incorporating a distance education programme through broadband facility besides non formal course programmes which may not require a degree qualification from applicants but instead aim to upgrade their selves in different fields.

Among other proposals the Goa university will also venture to make lectures of its teachers available on the internet to enable students to catch up with the lectures in case they missed them or need to understand, revise or confirm  details of the lectures. The Goa university plans to move from education based system to a knowledge based system according to the Vice-Chancellor of the university Prof Dilip Deobagkar

The silver jubilee year of the Goa university will commence with its foundation day function to be conducted at Kala Academy on June 30.Delivering a lecture on the occasion will be the noted molecular bio-physicist Prof P Balaram who will lecture on " Research and higher education - Indian Challenges". Former vice-chancellors and Registrars of the University are also expected to be felicitated on the occasion.

The Governor Mr SS Sidhu is expected to be the Chief guest on the occasion while the Chief Minister Mr Digambar Kamat will be the guest of honour. The event will be followed by a classical music concert where young and talented artistes are expected to perform.

According to the Vice-Chancellor, the university expects to get five times more grants this year from the University grants commission due to its past performance.

Sibals Education reform plans sets Goa thinking

When the HRD Minister Mr Kapil Sibal proposed some ground breaking reforms in education including a proposal to do away with the class X exams on June 25th 2009, the entire country digested the news with a lot of skepticism. Goa was no different and the voices in the state are completely mixed as to what would be the outcome of such an enforcement should it come by our way.

In Sibal's words, by this proposal he intends to de-stress the existing education system where the students are currently suffering from a trauma towards exams. By this move the HRD minister aims to bring some joy back into the childhood and high school for students who feel stressed in the current scenario.

The proposal also mooted a overhaul of the education system replacing marks with grades, establishing an over-arching higher education authority under a one-nation, one-board principle and introducing a tough law to prevent, prohibit and  punish educational malpractices. A semester system is also a part of the plans.

Sibal anticipated  resistance from state governments in the case of making the standard X exams optional but was hopeful of getting around the hurdles by holding negotiations with everyone. He also stressed that the proposal was not his personal decision but was presented after a panel of educationists deliberated and  discussed  over it for a period of time.

The proposal could be implemented in the CBSE schools in the earlier stage as these schools are under the centre and the government can implement the proposal here without interference. Making the class X exams optional would mean that students who want to continue in the same school and do not need a CBSE certificate can opt not to appear for the board exams. They are expected to be judged on quarterly assessments. However students who want to move to another school after class X will need to answer the board exam.

Some educationists in Goa preferred to understand the policy first before commenting on it while some others lamented that every government announces different policies and constant changes in educational reforms will not help anyone. However there are some others who are very receptive to the reforms in Goa.

While some Goans felt that the SSC exams were an unwanted pressure for those who want to develop their skills, it may be required for those who want to pursue their studies. Grading was also expected to help in warding off the rank system which many Goans felt  leads to an inferiority complex among students. A uniform syllabus is also considered necessary as students move out of Goa to join professional colleges. However students in Goa also feel that the marks and percentages help to motivate students to perform better and that the current proposal could be a dampener for some students

Goan Parents file PIL against DoE

The Department of Education has been taken to court by the All Goa Unaided Schools Parents Association (AGUSPA) for failing to implement and enforce the All Goa School Education Act, 1984 and All Goa School Education Rules, 1986. The "AGUSPA" had earlier in a meeting organised on 13 June at Margao had decided to file the PIL against the DoE for its continuous inaction to provide relief against the high handedness of unaided schools.

The rules specified in the act are enough to protect parents from arbitrary fee hikes by unaided schools. However the Education department is least bothered to implement the rules even as parents have been making demands of them to enforce the rules for the last three years. While unaided schools are required to obtain a clearance from the Director of education before the hike in fees this procedure is blatantly ignored.

It was therefore the inaction of the constituted body that forced the AGUSPA to file the PIL before the division bench of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday 23rd June 2009. The Court was requested by Jos Peter D'Souza, the counsel for the petitioner that till the date of the next hearing the DoE should not grant approval to any school to increase its fees. The Court has granted this request of the petitioner.

The petition said that every academic year, all the unaided schools are required to file audit reports before the directorate of education which ahs to be audited by them and also by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India(CAG). But the petitioner stated that this was hardly followed. Also while every school has to constitute a 15 member committee with representation from parents, teachers and management along with official of the directorate of education, this rule is also not followed. The committee is  necessary as it has to analyse the accounts and expenses of the school before the school can obtain approval for the revised fee structure. The AGUSPA has pointed out that none of the 116 unaided schools in the state have such a committee.

The matter was adjourned after two weeks as the Advocate general Subodh Kantak sought time to study the matter and the court has granted the same

Goa to show its sporting spirit

Close on the heels of tasting big success by claiming the Santosh trophy by beating arch-rivals Bengal for the first time in a Santosh trophy final, Goans are upbeat  and the Goa government seems to have  taken the moment constructively into its stride to implement a long lost sports policy to make the state one of the leading sport enthusiasts in the country.

In what could be described as a landmark decision, the government of Goa has worked out an ambitious plan wherein sports could be an optional academic subject and the proposal could find implementation from as early as this academic year 2009-2010. If implemented, it could give sports in the state a big fillip and could nurse budding talent to reach to the next level in the sporting arena.

The meeting to this effect was held at the Maquinez place on Tuesday, 16 June 2009 and the decision to make sports an optional academic subject was agreed during this sports policy implementation committee meeting. Sports is therefore expected to be treated on par with other subjects and could get equal weightage in comparison to subjects like mathematics, Geography and History.

However a suggestion to make sports a compulsory subject did not go down well with everyone as some members felt that every child may not find it suitable to actively participate in sports activities.The Chief Minister Mr Digambar Kamat was a the helm of the decision to implement the sports policy for Goa where he felt that it would provide the necessary impetus to back the sportspersons and groom them at a very young age.

Also in agreement was the leave of absence to be granted to students who attend national and international duty as part of the sports policy. The above sports policy was gathering dust since 1998 and now could finally see the light of day and could be a pathbreaker for Goa to make a mark in sports both at the national and international level.

Goa Parents to approach high court against hike in unaided school fees

Parents of Unaided schools under the banner of "All Goa Unaided Schools Parents Association" met in Margao on Saturday to chalk out a future course of action against the arbitrary hike in school fees of unaided schools in the state of Goa.The meeting was held at the BM hall in Margao at 5.30 pm on Saturday, the 13th of May 2009 as a follower to their earlier meeting held in late March 2009 where the whole issue was brought to the fore and the resolve to fight the unjust hike was expressed unanimously by all the parents.

After having approached the directorate of education to redress their grievances and finding that the process is being dragged by the concerned authorities, the parents of these schools have now decided to approach the high court through a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the regular hike in fees by managements of recognized private unaided schools.

The parents have expressed their disappointment at the lack of action from the Education department on the complaints lodged by them against the school managements for hiking fees besides other related issues.The association felt that all their talks with the government and the Directorate of education have failed to evince the desired results and now after a long wait, they have no choice but to approach the court to fight for justice to stop the loot under the guise of quality education and vowed to continue the fight against the arbitrary fee hikes in unaided schools in Goa.

It was also pointed out that parents in Mumbai and Del hi are fighting similar battles and called upon the parents in Goa to join the battle in the interest of justice and future of their children. The association members said that the department of education was forced to seek details of the fee structures of the schools only after receiving complaints from the parents in this matter and stressed that the failure of the directorate to meaningfully enforce the Goa School education Act 1984 which through section 19, sub section (3) and (4) deals with the fees and other charges to be collected by schools has led to the commercialisation of education in the state.

The association now would like to express the unrest among parents through the PIL aiming to streamline the erring managements and  trustees of private unaided schools and the directorate of education for denying justice and exploiting the parents.

The parents have also stressed that they are not against the teachers getting better salaries or being granted the pay scales under the  sixth pay commission recommendations. They are however confident that the salaries as above can be paid through the existing fee structures levied currently by the management of such schools.

The association also highlighted their back stage struggles during which they sought various documents including audited account statements of these schools through the "right to information(RTI)" act which exposed the blatant diversion of funds to different heads of accounting which was a gross violation. The association therefore plans to seek redressal of all these issues through the Public Interest litigation which is proposed to be filed shortly.

Manmohan Singh installs "MS office " with 78 Ministers in cabinet

The week long Manmohan Singh government today completed the expansion of his Ministry by adding another 59 Ministers to his previous council of 19 thereby taking the tally to 78 ministers in his cabinet.

The news finally came in at 9.30 pm on Thursday when all the portfolios were out and it was eventually clear as to which Minister got what portfolio. Initially it as felt that the whole affair was on expected lines but then came in a few surprises. The former commerce Minister Mr Kamal Nath was moved to surface transport while a new commerce minister in Anand Sharma came in. Veerappa Moily as the law minister was also a surprise for many.

The tough balancing act with due consideration to regions, caste, political experience, political weight, religion, aptitude and merit had to be all taken into account before the exhaustive process of allocating the ministries was finally done. The government was also expecting efficiency from the new incumbents and as the Prime Minister noted that "business as usual' would not do.

No MP from Goa or UP could find a place in the cabinet either as a cabinet minister or as a minister of state.There are currently two congress MPs from Goa in the parliament with Mr Francisco Sardinha elected to the Lok sabha from Mormugao Constituency while Mr Shantaram Naik represents Goa in the Rajhya sabha. Other notable exclusions from the cabinet include the former KRD minister Mr Arjun Singh, Mr HR Bhardwaj, Jat veteran Mr Sisram Ola and outgoing Ministers Saifuddin Soz and Ashwini Kumar.

With 33 ministers of cabinet rank, seven Ministers of State( MoS) with independent charge and 38 MoS, there is hardly any more space for any more candidates as the council of ministers cannot cross 81 and therefore only 3 more can be accommodated.

The 78 ministers has 29 first timers and nine ex- Chief Ministers. the Nationalist Congress party's (NCP) Agatha Sangma is the youngest ever Minister at 28. She is the junior minister to CP Joshi who will also hold the additional charge of Panchayati Raj

The following is the exhaustive list of the ministers in the Manmohan Singh cabinet, with their portfolios

No	Name	Age	Portfolio
	Manmohan Singh	76	Prime Minister
1	A K Antony	68	Defence
2	S M Krishna	77	External Affairs
3	Ghulam Nabi Azad	60	Health
4	Vayalar ravi	71	Overseas Indian Affairs
5	Murli Deora	72	Petroleum
6	Ambika Soni	65	Information and Broadcasting
7	Anand Sharma	56	Commerce & Industry
8	G K Vasan	44	Shipping
9	Vilasrao Dehsmukh	64	Heavy Industries
10	M S Gill	72	Youth Affairs and Sports
11	Pranab Mukherjee	74	Finance
12	Mukul Wasnik	50	Social Justice
13	Sharad Pawar	69	Agriculture
14	Dayanidhi Maran	42	Textiles
15	P Chidambaram	64	Home Affairs
16	A Raja	47	Communications and IT
17	Mamata Banerjee	54	Railways
18	Sushilkumar Shinde	68	Power
19	M Veerappa Moily	69	Law
20	Mallikarjun Kharge	67	Labour
21	S Jaipal Reddy	67	Urban Development
22	Kamal Nath	63	Surface Transport
23	Meira Kumar	64	Water Resources
24	Kapil Sibal	61	Human Resources
25	Pawan K Bansal	60	Parliamentary Affairs
26	Kumari Selja	47	Housing, Tourism
27	B K Handique	75	Mines, NE Development
28	C P Joshi	58	Rural Development, Panchati Raj
29	M K Azhagiri	58	Chemicals & Fertilizers
30	Virbhadra Singh	75	Steel
31	Farooq Abdullah	72	New and Renewable energy
32	Subodh Kant Sahay	58	Food Processing industries
33	Kantilal Bhuria	58	Tribal Affairs
	Ministers of state		Independent charge
34	Prithviraj Chavan	63	Science and Tech,PMO,Personnel
35	Jairam Ramesh	55	Environment & Forest
36	Praful Patel	52	Civil Aviation
37	Sriprakash Jaiswal	64	Coal, Statistics
38	Salman Khursheed	56	Corporate, Minorities
39	Dinsha Patel	72	MSM Enterprises
40	Krishna Tirath	54	Women & Child Development
	Ministers of state
41	Srikant Jena	58	Chemicals
42	E Ahamed	71	Railways
43	Mullapally Ramachandran	53	Home affairs
44	V Narayanasamy	61	Planning, Parliamentary affairs
45	Jyotiraditya Scindia	38	Commerce and Industry
46	D Purandeswari	50	Commerce and Industry
47	K H Muniyappa	61	Railways
48	Ajay Maken	45	Home Affairs
49	Panabaka Lakshmi	50	Textiles
50	Namo Narain Meena	65	Finance
51	M M Paliam Raju	46	Defence
52	Saugata Roy	62	Urban Development
53	S S Palanimanickam	58	Finance
54	Jitin Prasad	36	Petroleum and natural Gas
55	A Sai Prathap	64	Steel
56	Gurudas kamat	55	Communications and IT
57	Harish Rawat	62	Labour and Employment
58	K V Thomas	63	Agri, ConsAffairs, food and PD
59	Mahadev Khandela	65	Road transport and highways
60	Dinesh Trivedi	59	Health and family welfare
61	Sisir Adhikari	66	Rural Development
62	Sultan Ahmed	56	Tourism
63	Mukul Roy	55	Shipping
64	Mohan Jatua	71	I&B
65	D Napoleon	46	Social Justice & Empowerment
66	S Jagathrakhshakan	61	I&B
67	S Gandhiselvan	46	Health and Family Welfare
68	Preneet Kaur	64	External Affairs
69	Tusharbhai Chaudhury	42	Tribal Affairs
70	Sachin Pilot	31	Communications and IT
71	Arun Yadav	35	Youth Affairs and Sports
72	Prateek P Patil	35	Heavy Industries & Public Ent.
73	R P N Singh	39	Road transport and Highways
74	Shashi Tharoor	53	External Affairs
75	Vincent Pala	41	Water Resources
76	Pradeep Jain	49	Rural Development
77	Bharatsinh solanki	55	Power
78	Agatha Sangma	28	Rural Development

Goa SSC results: over 77 % pass the test

The Goa Board for secondary and higher secondary education announced the Secondary School Certification examination results on Tuesday which threw up a passing percentage of 77.12 percent. As has become a common trend in the last decade, girls continued to outshine the boys in Goa with the fairer sex snatching the top three honours for themselves while also achieving more distinctions and first classes than the boys.

A staggering 802 girls scored distinctions against 550 boys scoring the same while a tally of 1637 girls passed with a first class against 1234 boys securing first class. A total of 15,171 students had appeared for the SSC examinations in Goa this year with the passing percentage of 77.12 percent being the the best in the last five years.

Margao student Miss Melisa Shirley Luis of Damodar Vidyalay topped the list with a passing percentage of 94.67 percent followed by Shravani Devidas Gurav of Sarvodaya High School Churchorem who secured 94% and Vidula Uday Pednekar of Fatima Convent Margao who was close behind with 93.5%.

Thirteen schools recorded 100 percent results this year while 9 centres crossed the average passing percentage of the board - 77.12 percent. Ponda centre- 87.46 percent, Navelim, Porvorim, Margao, Mapusa, Vasco, Mandrem, Panaji and Mangueshi - 79.32 percent. Dharbandora centre recorded the lowest passing percentage of 57.47 percent

Goa DoE circulars : Parents see little

The circulars issue by the Directorate of Education(DoE) to both aided as well as unaided schools, have a had a mixed response from parents and citizens of the  state. Some parents felt that the guidelines issued to aided schools about favoring students nearer to the school as compared with students staying farther away, were already being followed and there was nothing new added to benefit the aggrieved parents.

Some parents feel that making only distance as the criteria would erode and neglect the merit for the purpose. Also if a particular village or city area has a sub-standard school, the parents would be compelled to admit their children is such schools at the cost of quality education in schools farther from their residence. This would therefore mean that the residents of rural areas would not be able to send their wards to good urban schools which are considered to be having  a better quality of education.

Also such a move, would lure parents in rural areas to re-locate their residence to urban areas in quest of complying with the new regulations of being in close proximity to the schools of admission. Some other parents and members of government aided schools lamented that neither the managements nor the parents were consulted while making such an important decision by the DoE.

The fears  were that there was no proper assessment or study over the new guidelines nor any thought towards the number of documents required to be furnished to calculate the points accruing to each candidate as per the new guidelines.

Some other parents felt that the move is only aimed at filling up the sub-standard schools in the villages whose enrolment is on a steady decline. Some parents of students in unaided schools were of the opinion that the donation issue of such schools has strangely not been touched by the DoE and pointed it out to be the evil in the system of admission in such schools.

Also parents are unhappy that the perennial problem of the medium of instruction has been left untouched. Parents aver that they are discouraged from admitting their children to the aided schools on account of the medium of instruction which is the vernacular language of Konkani or Marathi upto the fourth standard. Parents feel that the medium of instruction is the major problem and not the distance of the school.

Goa's unaided schools get deadline of May 30

A backlash from parents of children admitted in unaided schools in Goa seem to be making the authorities stand up and act. The recent outspoken drive by such parents have made the directorate of education (DoE) take serious note of the complaints made by the parents about demands for donations by certain schools as also the rampant increase in fees of such schools without approval from the directorate.

The move has prompted the DoE to issue a circular to all unaided recognised, primary and secondary schools in the state of Goa to submit their fee structure before May 30 for its approval. The fee structure so submitted will include the registration fee, admission fee, caution money, tuition fee, annual fee and development fee.

In another jolt to the high handedness of such schools, the school managements are also required to consult parents and government nominees on the managing committee before framing the fee structure. The circular issued to the schools also points out the serious discrepancies committed by some schools that despite its previous circulars, some of them either collect fees without prior approval of the DoE or do not submit the fee structure within the specified time. They have also been asked to notify class wise fees chargeable to the candidates

The school managements have also been advised to follow the regulations prescribed in the Goa School Education Act 1984 and keep the same in regard to salary of employees without burdening parents through fees. The DoE has also instructed schools to allow sufficient time for candidates to pay the fees and in the event of a candidate deciding to join another school after paying the fees, the school has to refund the fees on production of the receipts of payments after deducting the admission fees.

In addition, the DoE has also asked the schools to file an audited statement of the previous year to the accounts section on or before June 15 and have been warned of strict action if they fail to adhere to the instructions