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LOBAMBA - Senator Isaac Magagula is hopeful that the increased scholarship budget will put a stop to demonstrations by students, an act which he said was hijacked and weaponised against the State.
The legislator was of the view that the scholarship issue, which frequently saw students engaging in acts of protest over delayed disbursement of allowances, was politicised and used as a weapon against the State.
Magagula made these submissions during the budget speech debate at the Senate yesterday. He stated that the increase in the scholarship deserved all the applause because it would go a long way in helping the situation at tertiary institutions across the country.
Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg announced through the budget speech of 2023 that the Ministry had increased the scholarship budget from E361 million by an additional E286 million to being a total of E647 million. The minister said this would increase the number of new scholarships from 2 500 to 3 500 scholarships this year.
“The increase in scholarships is modest and should be commended but unfortunately this issue had been hijacked and weaponised against the State.
Protest
“This was in the form of boycotts, protests and violence. We hope now that it has been increased, it would address the underlying issues and put an end to the protests by students,” he said.
Magagula said the increased scholarship did not specifically address the issue of allowances which was the root cause of the protests by the students. However,