Securing a well-paying job, or a job that one feels passionate about is not a reality for many. Because finding a job can be so challenging, South African youth are not usually left with many options, making economic emancipation not possible.
A lack of a decent education, or sometimes an education at all, mismatched labour supply and demand, the ever-increasing population and limited opportunities for entrepreneurship are other factors that have contributed to the high youth unemployment rate.
According to Statistics South Africa, approximately 25% of South African youth are active job-seekers but remain unemployed.
Improving Access To Quality Education
On Youth Day last week, 16 June, Deputy President Paul Mashatile announced that the government would be leveraging efforts to improve education from the foundation phase and entrepreneurship skills to accelerate youth economic development that is so desperately needed.
Mashatile revealed that Youth Education and Training is currently a top priority for the government.
We believe that education is one of the most crucial enabling factors for attaining economic emancipation.
The government will continue to invest in the development of a more inclusive education system in which children from low-income and working-class families will also have access to quality education right from the foundation phase to post-school education.
It is important that the curriculum is responsive to the increasing demand for skilled labour, high-speed internet connection and innovative technologies. This process started with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) introducing coding and robotics at the foundation phase level.
As part of the new three-stream model, occupational and vocational streams have also been included. 13 new vocational disciplines are to be introduced.
Creating Opportunities To Promote Entrepreneurship
Through the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) grant programme, young entrepreneurs have been provided with access to financial and non-financial business development support to help them to establish or grow their businesses.
This programme was able to provide funding for 2 320 youth and youth-owned enterprises, support 34 209 with non-financial development interventions and create 6 796 jobs.
The youth make up a large proportion of the South African population, making it important to equip them with the necessary skills to encourage economic development and a more sustainable future.
At this stage, the Youth Employment Service (YES), has been responsible for placing over 100 000 South Africans between 18 and 29 years old in local businesses to help them gain a year of working experience.
Another government initiative, the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI), has been extremely successful in promoting economic development amongst the youth. 83% of those who participated in the programme since its launch in 2020 were youth. 1.2 million youth have taken part in the last three years.
Additionally, the Department of Small Business Development has assisted 35 000 young people to secure non-financial support to scale up their enterprises
