University of Goa

Goa University

गोंय विद्यापीठ
Logo of Goa University
Motto	"Knowledge is Divine"
Type	Public
Established	1985
Chancellor	Mridula Sinha
Vice-Chancellor	Varun Sahani
Location	Taleigão, Goa, India
Campus	Urban
Nickname	GU
Affiliations	UGC, NAAC, AIU
Website	www.unigoa.ac.in

Goa University was established under the Goa University Act of 1984 (Act No. 7 of 1984) and commenced operations on 1 June 1985. The university provides higher education in the Indian state of Goa.

After the annexation of Goa by India in December 1961, the University of Bombay, (now Mumbai) offered affiliation through its Centre of Post-Graduate Instruction and Research (located in the state capital, Panaji, or Panjim) to the first colleges that were instituted in Goa in June 1962. Since 1985 Goa University offers graduate and post-graduate studies and research programmes. It is currently (as of 2014) accredited by the NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) in India with a rating of four stars. It is located on the Taleigao Plateau and is one of India's few universities offering western languages.

Although the Portuguese colonial powers set up several seminaries and a number of parish schools after their arrival in Goa in the 16th century, these offered mainly religious and elementary education, respectively. Medical education started in the early 18th century, in the Royal Hospital in the old City of Goa, and the first regular medical course was offered in 1801 at the Royal and Military Hospital. In the 1950s attempts were made by the government to ensure compulsory enrolment in primary schools (Varde 83). Private schools also thrived, including in Marathi and English mediums. Some of these taught up to high school and prepared the students to appear for Secondary School Certificate Examination (Matric/SSCE) of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary Education, Pune.

Dr. P.S. Varde (History of Education in Goa from 1510 to 1975, Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of Goa, Panaji, Goa, 1977) quotes the following figures for enrolment in primary schools in Goa, Daman and Diu, in the year 1961-62:

The enrolment in secondary schools:

Including the enrolment in the 4 Government Technical Schools (secondary level: 993), the grand total for all languages : 10, 181. “...the total number of children in primary schools would amount to 59, 607. This would mean that approximately 50% children out of the total population in the age group 7-13 were attending primary schools. The percentage enrolment in secondary schools for the age group 11-17 was approximately 14.6%.” (Varde 94-96). The duration of school education was of around 12 years, including pre-University education.

Teachers’ Training: After a number of ineffectual attempts were made to start training institutes for teachers, in 1844 a teachers’ training school, Escola Normal, was established, in line with new directions from Portugal for the promotion of education in the colonies. (Cabral 95). The school was initially attached to the Lyceum, and underwent constant reforms as educational policies in Europe underwent change. Whereas earlier women students could only appear as private candidates, from 1894, in Portugal, it was made co-educational (Cabral 134). “When the Governor-General Joãoo Carlos Craveiro Lopes came out with his set of reforms [in Goa] through his “Portaria” (ordinance) issued on the 31st of May 1935, he stated clearly that the Escola Normal de Luis de Camões was meant for the training of Teachers of both sexes and would be under the Governor-General of the colony, who would administer it through the Directorate of Civil Administration.” (Cabral 114).