Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart says it is uneconomic for Government to fund satellite schools, in a move that is likely to condemn many disadvantaged children to substandard education.

Most of the satellite schools are on former white farms, whose land was redistributed to blacks under the land reform programme.

Minister Coltart's remarks have invited the ire of educationists and teachers' unions who interpret the move to be an affront to the land reform programme.

In an interview last week, Minister Coltart said while the satellite schools were serving a purpose, they did not meet international standards and Government requirements.

"While the physical structures of those satellite schools are inadequate and in appalling condition, there are additional problems to that in terms of managing them," he said.