Panaji, Jun 10 (TOI): The poor enrolment in Konkani-medium primary schools has brought into sharp focus not only the ground reality where parents' choice is English, but also the half-hearted approach by government agencies to promote Konkani in a big way.

TOI had reported on Friday stating that over 14,000 children enrolled to study in English medium schools last academic year, as opposed to just 1,793 in Konkani schools.

Konkani activists said that unlike in southern states, there is half-hearted attempt by the government and government-funded agencies to make Konkani-medium schooling attractive.

"The staggering enrolment figures in English-medium schools establishes beyond doubt that the state policy of funding primary education in English-medium is erroneous," said former head of the department of English at Goa University, Kiran Budkuley.

Another Konkani protagonist said that the controversial medium of instruction policy was opposed by politicians for political gains, as in the last six years, the government efforts were mainly on paper. "The government needs to involve Konkani organisations and try for a people's movement at the grassroots level with the sole aim of preserving Konkani culture for posterity," he added.

Konkani language activist, Yugank Naik, said, "We need to put integrated efforts into increasing enrolment in Konkani medium schools," he said.

Konkani writer Mahabaleshwar Sail said, "It has always been the ill-fate of vernacular languages that they never get top priority. Parents should make efforts to keep their children connected to their linguistic roots."

Former president of Konkani Bhasha Mandal, Prashant Naik, however, was of a different opinion. "Before diocesan schools shifted their primary education to English-medium for government grants, only a few thousand students enrolled in fully Konkani-medium schools. The numbers have increased since then. We have started many Konkani institutions and student enrolment has increased by at least 5,000 pupils since," he said.