Minister wants to prioritise rural universities

South Africa’s Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology Blade Nzimande said that he wants to prioritise infrastructure and the quality of education in rural universities, writes Bongekile Macupe for the Mail & Guardian.

Speaking at the ninth national congress of the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU), Nzimande said it cannot be that these rural universities remain as they were under the apartheid regime. “Therefore, one of the biggest struggles which I hope SADTU and others will support me to wage is to actually raise the level and standards of our universities in rural areas.”

There are eight universities that are classified as rural or historically disadvantaged institutions. They include the University of Fort Hare, Walter Sisulu University, University of Venda, University of Zululand, University of Limpopo, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University and the University of the Western Cape. Nzimande announced that work was already underway at some of these institutions in terms of infrastructure development. At Fort Hare University construction for a student residence to house 1,437 students is already under way. He also said that plans are in place to build a 2,000-bed student residence at Sefako Makgatho University.
Full report on the Mail & Guardian site