Mbeki policy responsible in part for education funding crisis, Blade Nzimande says
Nzimande says Thabo Mbeki’s government grew the public higher education system in terms of numbers but did not match it with infrastructure and funding
Higher Education and Training minister Blade Nzimande has blamed former president Thabo Mbeki’s growth‚ employment and redistribution (Gear) economic policy for the current higher education funding crisis. "I am not lamenting or blaming the rest of government. Except one thing that I need to say‚ the part of the reason why we are here is because our own government in the 1990s followed a problematic economic policy called Gear. "This is part of the price we are paying because one of the things that Gear did was not to fund higher education adequately‚" he said. Nzimande said the dangers of neoliberal policies was that the government grew the public higher education system‚ which he said was good in terms of numbers‚ but was not matched with infrastructure and funding of the main system. "But now I am part of government and we must take collective responsibility for the situation which we are in‚" he said. Nzimande was speaking in Pretoria on Thursday. He said the government had made...
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