NT Reporter
Panaji
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday said contractual teachers with 10 years of service will be regularised under a new scheme.
“No contract-based teacher has been terminated. We are introducing a new scheme to regularise contractual employees and teachers who have completed 10 years of service will be considered under this scheme,” Sawant told the legislative assembly.
Warning that qualifications of all teachers from both, government and aided schools will be verified thoroughly, the Chief Minister said teachers who are found to be unqualified will be sent home.
“No contractual teacher is paid Rs 8,000, all earn above Rs 25,000. If anyone is receiving Rs 8,000, bring them to me. Pending salaries will be cleared before Ganesh Chaturthi,” he said.
Stating that the government has acquired nearly 1.20 lakh sq mt of land from Goa University to set up a common campus, the Chief Minister said all professional colleges located in Panaji will be shifted to the new location for which a foundation stone will be laid soon.
Stating that 90% of the school repairs are complete, Sawant said the pending 10% works will be completed within the next six months. He said the old ‘Bal Raths’ will be phased out and replaced with new buses. Sawant said the new ‘Bal Raths’ will be provided to schools in a phased manner. “Buses that are over 15 years old must obtain a fitness certificate from the RTO, otherwise they will be scrapped. Timely funds will be allocated for bus maintenance,” Sawant said.
Sawant said that over 700 pre-primary schools are registered with the government and added that the government will carry out an inspection and decide on issuing provisional permission and grants to the schools. The Chief Minister said 80 teachers have been imparted training at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.
He also said the implementation of NEP 2020 has already commenced in schools.
Sawant said skill-based subjects have been introduced in Classes 9 and 10, while common question papers have been introduced from Classes 3 to 6 by SCERT, Goa from this year.
The Chief Minister told the assembly that payments to most of the self-help groups under the Midday Meal Scheme have been cleared. He said the pending payments will be cleared before Ganesh Chaturthi.
The state government has allocated Rs 4,281 crore, which is 15% of the total budget, to education and there is no compromise on the quality of education or funding in the sector, the Chief Minister told the House.
He said the government is preparing to re-float a fresh tender to rope in a private player for the revival of the Sanjivani Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Limited at Dharbandora, with the re-tender to be floated in the next 8-10 days.
Sawant said the new Goa State Museum will be built at Ella on a 10,000 sq mt plot, with the foundation stone to be laid this year.
Meanwhile, Sawant told the House that the Manohar International Airport (MIA) has generated Rs 65.88 crore in revenue and brought an additional 90-100 flights daily to Goa. He assured that the Dabolim airport will not be shut down due to the commissioning of MIA in North Goa. “It is not a ghost airport and after 20 years also the airport will be there,” he said.
Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao alleged that the Dabolim airport would be turned into a “ghost airport” to benefit MIA.
