Goa's first community radio station, Radio Mandovi 88.4 FM, was officially launched in Moira on 22 August, marking a significant step toward giving local communities a direct voice and expanding access to education and career guidance across the state. The station, founded by Dr Ashwin Fernandes under the PACT Foundation, will formally begin broadcasting from Sunday, 23 August, with its transmission tower already installed in Moira.

The Launch and What It Signals

The inauguration coincided with the PACT Foundation's third Foundation Day, underscoring the organisation's growing footprint in Goa's educational landscape. The foundation currently works with more than 41 schools across five talukas in the state, and Radio Mandovi 88.4 FM is expected to significantly extend that outreach.

'It is a democratic initiative, so it is really something for us to be able to work with the community and give the community a voice,' Dr Fernandes said at the launch event.

Goa Futures Ready: Career Mapping for School Students

Alongside the radio launch, the PACT Foundation unveiled its Goa Futures Ready initiative, designed to help high school students identify and prepare for suitable career paths. The programme will deploy psychometric assessments for students, followed by structured career mapping and preparation for the evolving future of work — moving well beyond conventional academic tracks.

Dr Fernandes said the initiative aims to equip young people not just for traditional professions but for a wide spectrum of opportunities, from sports and the arts to science and technology.

Bhumi Pednekar on Education Access and Equity

Actor Bhumi Pednekar, who attended the launch, drew attention to the persistent gap in quality education between urban centres and smaller communities. She stressed that meaningful education must encompass opportunities beyond standard academic routes.

'I truly believe the only way to have a strong, thriving society and a strong, thriving country is by giving strong education, especially to students who don't have access to the means that other students in cities have,' Pednekar said.

She also noted her own parallel work in Madhya Pradesh on similar educational access initiatives and expressed her intent to learn from Dr Fernandes's systems and processes. 'The world should be your oyster, and we need to strengthen our systems so that every child gets an opportunity to fulfil their dreams,' she added.

Why This Matters Beyond Goa

Community radio has long been recognised as a cost-effective tool for last-mile education delivery in India, particularly in semi-urban and rural areas underserved by mainstream media. Radio Mandovi 88.4 FM is notably Goa's first such station, a gap that has existed despite the state's high literacy rate and relatively well-developed school network. This comes amid a broader national push to use localised media for skill development and career awareness among first-generation learners.

With broadcasting set to begin and the Goa Futures Ready programme rolling out across schools, the PACT Foundation's next phase will test whether community radio can meaningfully bridge the career-guidance deficit in smaller Indian towns.