African church officials react differently to student funding cuts

Published: 2006-10-24

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- The Swazi government's decision to cancel more than 500 students' university scholarships is devastating to poor students, said Father Pius Magagula, an official of the justice and peace commission of the Diocese of Manzini, Swaziland. However, the head of the justice and peace commission in Botswana's Gaborone Diocese said Botswana's decision to end free education encourages people to be more self-reliant. Father Magagula said the Swazi government's decision "could lead to an increase in crime." "We are very concerned at the government's action and what it will mean" to people who drop out of school because they can't afford their education, he told Catholic News Service in a mid-October telephone interview from Manzini. He said the justice and peace commission and other groups took a petition to the offices of Swazi Prime Minister Absalom Themba Dlamini, urging the government to honor its scholarship commitments.

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