The International Centre, Goa soft-launched its flagship project the Goa Dialogues on Saturday, 1st September 2007. The first roundtable was on the issue of Human Capital in Goa focusing on higher education in the state.

Describing it as a “new initiative” the Director and Chief Executive of the Centre, M Rajaretnam, explained that the Goa Dialogues will “promote Goa as a focal point of radiating influence in the larger pan-Asian and Indian Ocean regions for ideas of freedom and sustainable development, human security and the importance of discourse and as a catalyst in human and social development. It will promote dialogue, interaction and cooperation among countries and civilizations.”

The day-long meeting was attended by educationists, government officials and businessmen. A background on the subject, prepared by Prof Sreekumar of the Faculty of Management of Goa University, had been circulated to the participants a week before the meeting. That formed the basis of the dialogue and exchange of views.

Earlier in his introductory remarks, Mr Yatin Kakodkar, a life trustee of the Centre said that with the spread of education the quality of education has suffered. He also decried the government’s lack of vision on education. Mr. P X F D’Lima, the Former Director, Goa Institute of Management who chaired the conference lamented the fact that Goans had to go abroad to continue their education due to the low standards of higher education in Goa when compared to that of other countries.

The discussions that followed were rich in information on the state of higher education in Goa. Clearly, there was consensus that a major review of the education system in Goa including primary, secondary, college and vocational is necessary if the young people of Goa are to keep pace with the challenges of globalization and there was also the need felt to have a broad and clear vision for Goa on education as a whole..

Dr. V.A. Pai Panandiker, Vice President of the Centre, stressed that the force of globalization is so strong that there is a high degree of marginalization of the people. He expressed his concern for the high rates of drop-outs in the school system as well as the need to look at issues concerning both quantity and quality of education in the state.

Dr N. Kamat of Goa University pointed out that there is a different world view in Goa and called for new thinking that will emphasize creativity and not control.

Others stated that there was a need to revamp the present educational system so that it lays more emphasis on the understanding of the students, that the curriculum should incorporate local, national and global needs, the need to introduce transparency amongst the educational institutions and simplifying the statutes governing the education system.

Some of the striking suggestions made included the transformation of Goa into an educational hub, having foreign collaborations in the educational field and even the proposal of setting up a Maritime University in Goa.

The Centre will be issuing a fuller report of the meeting within a month.

GOA DIALOGUES | Programme | Speech of M Rajaretnam | Speech of Yatin Kakodkar