At present primary education even in the diocesan (church-run) schools is imparted in Konkani. However, all students have to switch over to English because there are no Konkani medium schools at the secondary level.

Educationists say this is affecting the scholastic career of the students who have to make a painful switchover from one medium of instruction to another. ``There is a forty per cent dropout rate at the SSC level as a result,'' says Father Tony Salema, a spokesman for the Archbishop's office.

Unlike the church-run schools elsewhere in the country, the ones in Goa have opted not to pass onthe entire burden of the teachers' salaries to the students. The government grant comes with the condition that instruction imparted at the primary level be in the students' mother-tongue i.e. either Konkani or Marathi.

However parents of students enrolled in church-run schools, both Catholics and Hindus, are demanding that English be the medium of instruction. Recently the parent-teachers associations of several schools in South Goa openly protested the government's mother-tongue policy.

The immediate provocation was the education department cracking down on some church-run schools which allegedly switched over to English medium under pressure from the parents. Father Salema however denied the charge. ``Many of these schools conduct extra-curricular activities in English so that the students are familiar with the language,'' he told Express Newsline

. Education department officials allege that the schools were teaching several subjects in English.

Teachers who recently attended a workshop to helpthem teach better in Konkani admitted to a different problem -- unfamiliarity with the language. Some of them admitted to this reporter that they themselves had completed their education in English with one paper in Konkani at the SSC level. It was however altogether impossible for older teachers who had no knowledge of Konkani.

Such a situation is proving a fertile ground for politicians. The United Goans Democratic Party (UGDP), whose leader Churchill Alemao defected to Congress recently, is supporting the English bandwagon. UGDP leader Radharao Gracias has openly supported this stance. For the record, at least, all the other parties are taking a pro-Konkani stand.

Meanwhile, harassed well-to-do parents are admitting their wards to inadequately equipped schools paying inflated fees just so that their children get education in English. ``One way out of the crisis is to enable students to complete entire schooling in Konkani,'' admits Father Salema. But the government is yet to wake up to theproblem.