We need to think beyond higher education and training for the answer to the unemployment problem.
It is 43 years since the 1976 Soweto Uprising and 25 years into democracy, yet the youth of South Africa continue to struggle for financial freedom. Affordable, quality education is hard to come by, and even after graduating, employment is tough to find. Desperate graduates have been “begging” for work at traffic lights, others use social media to spread the word about their qualification after having tried more traditional avenues without success.
In 2015, South Africa had a total population of 54.96 million registered citizens with 66 percent of those citizens considered as the youth, meaning that they were under the age of 35. In the past couple of years, youth unemployment has soared from 40% to 55.2%, which means a large percentage of the South African population is unemployed.
Protests and demonstrations have yielded historic strides. The June 1976 uprising saw school children take to the streets after oppressive apartheid laws introduced Afrikaans as a medium of instruction at schools. It altered the socio-political landscape and is etched into our history.
The recent #FeesMustFall protests that began in mid-October 2015 drew much needed attention to rising tertiary education fees and the cost of higher education since the dawn of democracy.
But these strides have yet to translate into economic freedom and youth employment.
Since the youth cannot just pick up posters and placards and go to the streets demanding work, it is imperative that young people begin to make their own strides and create their own employment opportunities.
With so many qualified professionals sitting in debt for degrees that will hang on the wall of their parent’s living rooms collecting dust, we need to think beyond higher education and training for the answer to the unemployment problem. Perhaps the issue is that the question of what should happen after the degree is obtained is often left for the eleventh hour whereas it should be addressed even before the application is filled out.
Even though government must take responsibility to ensure that the young people of South Africa are employed, it is also up to us, the youth, to become active participants in the country’s economy. We must become job-creators and not simply be job-seekers.
In a day and age where it only costs R175.00 to register a company, young people have an array of possibilities to partner up and create employment opportunities for themselves and others. A friend of mine once jokingly said something that never left me while we were undergraduate students, she said: “Should our careers not work out, let’s start a business.” She even designated jobs for us based on what we were studying at the time, from marketing head to the accounts department.
These are the kinds of mindsets that universities, and really our entire education system, discourages the youth from having. Yet we look at the youth unemployment stats each year and wonder where the solution is going to come from. Well, we are the solution. Or as author Sihle Bolani puts it, “we are the ones we need!”
South Africa has an endless ocean of business possibilities and opportunities for the youth to explore. Instead of educating ourselves on the latest format of a CV, we should look into educating each other on the latest format of a business proposal.
We need more entrepreneurial and skills education in our curriculum. And while it is the responsibility of the government to make sure that the gap is bridged, it won’t happen overnight. It’s up to us to volunteer and leverage any and every opportunity we can get to acquire the kind of skills and knowledge that will aid us to not only generate an income for ourselves but also create employment opportunities for our fellow youth.
It has been time for quite some time now; we cannot sit and wait for something to be done to help the young people of South Africa. Vuk’uzenzele! The new trending question should be how many young people have you employed to date?
Woh I love your articles, bookmarked! .
As soon as I noticed this internet site I went on reddit to share some of the love with them.
I like this web blog so much, bookmarked.
Lovely just what I was searching for.Thanks to the author for taking his clock time on this one.
You really make it appear so easy with your presentation but I to find this topic to be actually something which I think I would never understand. It sort of feels too complicated and very large for me. I’m taking a look forward on your next post, I¦ll attempt to get the hang of it!
It?¦s actually a cool and useful piece of information. I?¦m satisfied that you shared this helpful info with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.
Thanx for the effort, keep up the good work Great work, I am going to start a small Blog Engine course work using your site I hope you enjoy blogging with the popular BlogEngine.net.Thethoughts you express are really awesome. Hope you will right some more posts.
When I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Thanks!
I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself? Plz reply back as I’m looking to create my own blog and would like to know wheere u got this from. thanks
You are a very intelligent individual!
An impressive share, I just given this onto a colleague who was doing a little analysis on this. And he in fact bought me breakfast because I found it for him.. smile. So let me reword that: Thnx for the treat! But yeah Thnkx for spending the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love reading more on this topic. If possible, as you become expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more details? It is highly helpful for me. Big thumb up for this blog post!
I would like to thank you for the efforts you’ve put in writing this site. I am hoping the same high-grade web site post from you in the upcoming also. In fact your creative writing skills has inspired me to get my own blog now. Actually the blogging is spreading its wings quickly. Your write up is a good example of it.
What i do not understood is actually how you’re no longer really much more well-liked than you may be now. You’re very intelligent. You know therefore considerably in the case of this matter, produced me in my opinion believe it from so many numerous angles. Its like women and men are not involved except it?¦s something to accomplish with Woman gaga! Your individual stuffs excellent. All the time handle it up!
I simply couldn’t depart your site before suggesting that I actually enjoyed the standard info an individual provide in your visitors? Is gonna be again frequently to check out new posts.
Great post, you have pointed out some good details , I likewise think this s a very good website.
What’s Taking place i’m new to this, I stumbled upon this I’ve found It absolutely helpful and it has aided me out loads. I’m hoping to contribute & assist other customers like its helped me. Great job.
Dead pent content, thanks for information .
you’ve gotten an ideal weblog here! would you prefer to make some invite posts on my blog?
Have you ever thought about publishing an e-book or guest authoring on other sites? I have a blog centered on the same topics you discuss and would love to have you share some stories/information. I know my visitors would enjoy your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel free to shoot me an email.
Utterly indited content, Really enjoyed looking at.
I?¦ll immediately seize your rss as I can not in finding your email subscription hyperlink or newsletter service. Do you have any? Please allow me recognize so that I may just subscribe. Thanks.
certainly like your website but you need to check the spelling on quite a few of your posts. Many of them are rife with spelling problems and I in finding it very troublesome to inform the truth then again I will definitely come again again.
You have brought up a very superb details , thankyou for the post.
What’s Taking place i’m new to this, I stumbled upon this I have found It positively useful and it has aided me out loads. I am hoping to contribute & help different users like its helped me. Great job.
Awesome blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A theme like yours with a few simple tweeks would really make my blog stand out. Please let me know where you got your theme. Thanks
I’m curious to find out what blog platform you have been working with? I’m having some small security issues with my latest website and I’d like to find something more secure. Do you have any solutions?
Good day! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading this post reminds me of my previous room mate! He always kept chatting about this. I will forward this page to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read. Thanks for sharing!
You could certainly see your enthusiasm within the work you write. The sector hopes for even more passionate writers such as you who are not afraid to say how they believe. Always go after your heart.
Thanks for your marvelous posting! I certainly enjoyed reading it, you could be a great author.I will make sure to bookmark your blog and definitely will come back someday. I want to encourage you to ultimately continue your great job, have a nice weekend!
I truly appreciate this post. I?¦ve been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You have made my day! Thanks again
Magnificent website. Plenty of helpful info here. I am sending it to several buddies ans also sharing in delicious. And of course, thank you in your effort!
F*ckin¦ amazing issues here. I¦m very happy to see your article. Thanks a lot and i’m taking a look forward to touch you. Will you kindly drop me a mail?
An interesting discussion is worth comment. I think that you should write more on this topic, it might not be a taboo subject but generally people are not enough to speak on such topics. To the next. Cheers
I’m impressed, I need to say. Really hardly ever do I encounter a weblog that’s both educative and entertaining, and let me inform you, you will have hit the nail on the head. Your thought is outstanding; the difficulty is one thing that not sufficient persons are speaking intelligently about. I am very glad that I stumbled across this in my search for something regarding this.
Good write-up, I’m normal visitor of one’s site, maintain up the nice operate, and It is going to be a regular visitor for a lengthy time.
I loved as much as you’ll receive carried out right here. The sketch is attractive, your authored subject matter stylish. nonetheless, you command get bought an impatience over that you wish be delivering the following. unwell unquestionably come further formerly again as exactly the same nearly a lot often inside case you shield this increase.
Thanks for this fantastic post, I am glad I observed this internet site on yahoo.
I appreciate, result in I discovered exactly what I used to be looking for. You’ve ended my four day lengthy hunt! God Bless you man. Have a nice day. Bye
Wonderful blog! I found it while searching on Yahoo News. Do you have any suggestions on how to get listed in Yahoo News? I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there! Cheers
Pretty great post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have truly loved browsing your weblog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing in your rss feed and I am hoping you write once more very soon!
I do consider all the ideas you’ve introduced in your post. They’re very convincing and will certainly work. Nonetheless, the posts are very brief for novices. May just you please prolong them a little from subsequent time? Thanks for the post.
Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wanted to say that I’ve really enjoyed surfing around your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I’m hoping you write again very soon!
I am lucky that I discovered this web blog, exactly the right info that I was searching for! .
I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you? Plz answer back as I’m looking to construct my own blog and would like to find out where u got this from. thank you
I have not checked in here for some time as I thought it was getting boring, but the last few posts are good quality so I guess I?¦ll add you back to my everyday bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂
Terrific work! This is the type of info that should be shared around the internet. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher! Come on over and visit my website . Thanks =)
I’m extremely inspired together with your writing talents as neatly as with the layout for your weblog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it your self? Anyway keep up the nice high quality writing, it’s rare to look a great blog like this one today..
Howdy! Someone in my Facebook group shared this website with us so I came to look it over. I’m definitely enjoying the information. I’m bookmarking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Terrific blog and superb design and style.
I think this is one of the most vital information for me. And i’m glad reading your article. But should remark on few general things, The site style is great, the articles is really great : D. Good job, cheers
Regards for this post, I am a big big fan of this web site would like to go on updated.
I love the efforts you have put in this, regards for all the great posts.
I’ve been surfing on-line greater than three hours as of late, but I never discovered any interesting article like yours. It?¦s lovely price enough for me. Personally, if all webmasters and bloggers made good content as you did, the net shall be much more helpful than ever before.
Hi there, just became aware of your blog through Google, and found that it is truly informative. I am gonna watch out for brussels. I’ll appreciate if you continue this in future. A lot of people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!
Some genuinely nice and utilitarian information on this internet site, also I think the layout has got wonderful features.
I used to be very pleased to seek out this web-site.I needed to thanks in your time for this wonderful read!! I positively having fun with each little little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to take a look at new stuff you weblog post.
Hi, I think your site might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your website in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, fantastic blog!
Excellent post. I used to be checking constantly this weblog and I’m inspired! Extremely helpful information particularly the remaining part 🙂 I deal with such info a lot. I was seeking this certain info for a very lengthy time. Thank you and good luck.
Heya i’m for the first time here. I found this board and I in finding It really useful & it helped me out a lot. I hope to provide something back and aid others such as you helped me.
You completed certain nice points there. I did a search on the matter and found the majority of persons will go along with with your blog.
Some truly choice blog posts on this website , bookmarked.
I like this post, enjoyed this one thankyou for putting up.
Wow! Thank you! I permanently wanted to write on my blog something like that. Can I implement a fragment of your post to my blog?
There are some fascinating closing dates on this article but I don’t know if I see all of them middle to heart. There may be some validity however I’ll take maintain opinion until I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we want more! Added to FeedBurner as properly
Attractive section of content. I just stumbled upon your blog and in accession capital to assert that I acquire in fact enjoyed account your blog posts. Anyway I’ll be subscribing to your feeds and even I achievement you access consistently rapidly.
You are a very intelligent person!
I am commenting to let you know what a excellent encounter my child developed going through the blog. She learned lots of pieces, which included how it is like to have a wonderful giving spirit to get other individuals smoothly have an understanding of a variety of hard to do subject matter. You truly surpassed people’s expectations. Many thanks for imparting the productive, trusted, edifying and also unique thoughts on the topic to Gloria.
Together with everything which seems to be developing within this subject material, a significant percentage of viewpoints are generally fairly refreshing. On the other hand, I beg your pardon, because I do not subscribe to your entire idea, all be it radical none the less. It would seem to everybody that your opinions are not entirely validated and in reality you are generally your self not fully certain of the argument. In any event I did appreciate reading it.
I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post…
Do you mind if I quote a few of your posts as long as I provide credit and sources back to your website? My blog is in the exact same area of interest as yours and my users would definitely benefit from some of the information you provide here. Please let me know if this okay with you. Thank you!