Scholarships may improve access, but focus must also be on raising quality of education
Goa’s education scene seems to be changing for the better, and the state government has further assured that education is its top priority. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, while relaunching the CM scholarship portal, also assured that going forward financial barriers will not stop any child from learning. The initiative, which is aimed at streamlining access to a range of government-funded educational scholarships, will help students apply for pre-matric, post-matric, and other state and central scholarship schemes. The cmscholarship.goa.gov.in portal will serve as a single-window system for students belonging to Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). Sawant said that this is a streamlined process for quick, single-window access and disbursal of the financial assistance within 30 days. He said that the departments of social welfare, finance, tribal welfare, education, and higher education will verify the applications online.
While the government’s efforts to ensure that no student loses out on education for want of finances are to be appreciated, there needs to be a proper assessment of applications. Just because such scholarships are available, there will be some non-eligible students who manage to get income certificates in order to avail themselves of tuition fees under EWS. The government official or sarpanch who issues the certificate must thoroughly check the financial credentials of the student’s parents. If the government inquires into such cases and acts strongly against the government official concerned and the applicant as well, it would be a deterrent to non-EWS category persons applying by falsification. The government’s expenditure on scholarships will come down if only the deserving students get the benefits.
As the government spends crores of rupees on education, it is also important that there is some assessment of the quality of education at all levels. Providing economically weaker students access to education is, no doubt, important, but the facilities also need to be upgraded. As education is a top priority of the government, improving the quality of education should be the mission. Even at the higher level, it should be the endeavour of the government and Goa University to retain students in institutions affiliated to the university. In the past five years, many of our students have left the state not only for post-graduate courses but even pre-graduation studies.
While easing financial access is a step forward, it must go hand in hand with efforts to raise academic standards, especially in institutions like Goa University that are expected to lead the state’s higher education landscape.
The state’s education sector is undergoing a change with new players entering the state’s education sector, which is bound to increase competition, not only at the school level but also at the higher education level. In such a scenario, quality of education will become the defining factor.
Goa University should be the first choice for students. But is it moving in that direction? New universities opening their doors in the state will be a challenge to Goa University. The Goa University authorities need to be concerned about the drop in its ranking. The government has to think of improving the quality of teaching, encourage research, and introduce changes accordingly. Goa has the talent, and how to harness it is the responsibility of the state too. What is needed is a competitive and healthy environment to give a boost to the students along with access.
