Goan Voices by Nisser Dias: 2025

Tuesday, 8 April 2025

Classroom Heat, Assembly Chill: Goa’s New Education Mantra -- BY Nisser Dias

If there’s one thing the Goa government has mastered with surgical precision, it’s the ancient Indian art of doing the opposite. While students are being stewed like dumplings in the April heat under the all-embracing National Education Policy (NEP), our honourable legislators are cooling their heels (and conscience) in air-conditioned Assembly chambers — with shorter sessions, of course, because deep thought and democratic debate cause... sweat.

Let’s not be ungrateful. The same government that can’t commit to a full Assembly session without breaking into hives has gallantly committed children to an additional month of schooling. Where sunscreen turns to soup and ceiling fans develop inferiority complexes. It’s part of NEP’s noble vision to prepare children for “national and global challenges”— starting with surviving climate change indoors, without air conditioning.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, the man of many ministries and even more microphones, has shown true leadership — by skipping full discussion on NEP in the House and fast-tracking it into classrooms like a syllabus on Red Bull.

Infrastructure? Ah, mere details! After all, NEP is about developing higher-order thinking, not basic necessities like buildings or trained teachers. If kids can learn perseverance, surely they can also learn to ignore sweating through their uniforms in classrooms designed during the Jurassic period.

And if you think the NEP was debated properly before being enforced, think again. The Assembly session that tried to raise the issue ended faster than a Goan monsoon. Perhaps the Chief Minister feared that the Opposition would expose the grand disconnect between policy ambition and reality—or worse, force him to answer questions. Critical thinking is encouraged in students, not in elected officials. They prefer their sessions brief and their egos long.

Now, the NEP says we need to teach empathy, leadership, communication. Beautiful! Maybe someday that can be extended to MLAs—especially the ones who rely on bureaucrats to explain basic governance, or those whose only experience in communication is forwarding WhatsApp messages with typos.

GOA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

Let us also appreciate how the government, while advocating curriculum transformation, has decided to transform history instead. Out with uncomfortable facts, in with the fantasy edition of the past — where apparently no one ever disagreed, and everyone wore saffron.

Of course, many parents are asking: what happens to the two-month vacation where kids usually pursue music, sports, or the age-old art of doing nothing with great enthusiasm? Why is it now being hijacked by policy experiments designed in Delhi and executed in Goa like a surprise math test? Because, dear readers, unlike Assembly sessions, child development can’t be postponed. The Goa government simply cares too much.

Let’s take a moment to imagine an NEP-inspired Assembly session—longer hours, skill development, teamwork, soft skills. Perhaps MLAs could be given role-plays: one plays an angry citizen, one a confused CM, and one, of course, plays Delhi. But alas, no such luck. Our legislators prefer soft cushions to soft skills.<

In conclusion, while students learn to debate, collaborate, and adapt under the NEP, the political class leads by inverse example: avoiding questions, abbreviating responsibility, and sweating only when the microphones are on.

Maybe that’s the real lesson: Do as we say, not as we legislate.

Monday, 27 January 2025

"From reverence to disregard — If this is how Divinity is treated, what about the people? -- By Nisser Dias

When pomp turns into shame: The crib once meant to honor the Holy Family now lies discarded on the pavement.

MLA Venzy Viegas, is this how you show respect to Divinity? Your actions reflect a deeper attitude: Use. Misuse. Abuse. Discard."

With much pomp and gaiety, the Benaulim MLA had erected a crib in a pond at Tolleaband-Pulwaddo in Benaulim greeting his constituents ‘Christmas and a New Year 2025.