Key reforms for education in budget

THE education sector will have some key reforms introduced in the 2020 National Budget to address dependency mentality, Finance Minister Rainbo Paita says.
Paita told The National that the Government would announce a shift reform in the Tuition Fee Free Education policy when it tabled the budget in Parliament today.
Without giving details, Paita said it would be a fair budget, that nothing in this world was free and that education was no exception.
He said funding for the district and provincial services improvement programme would be reduced as MPs had all agreed to a K2 million cut.
“That was part of our members’ decision to show our side of carrying the weight of the economic situation,” Paita said.
He said the budget allocations for the main focus sectors of Education, Health, infrastructure and economic development would be maintained.
Director for the Institute of National Affairs Paul Barker said the 2020 Budget would be critical.
“It will be time to move on from blaming all the current problems on past governments, although the past circumstances and growing debt have certainly cast a burden on the present,” he said.
“It’s time for the Government to take the bull by the horns and address the challenges in a systematic and realistic manner, and bring the people and the business sector along with it.”
Barker said challenging economic times will certainly continue in 2020.