LIMPOPO – THE alarming statistics of unemployed graduates in South Africa is attributed to a skills deficiency and valueless career paths often pursued by young people.
This was according to higher education and training deputy minister, Mduduzile Manana, who addressed delegates at an ANC Youth League (ANCYL) dialogue on higher education transformation event in Seshego on Friday.
Among the attendees were students, unemployed graduates, professionals and politicians.
Under the theme, Making Education Fashionable, Manana urged young people in the Seshego cluster to start pursuing vocational studies at technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges.
Manana reiterated the department’s crusade to model the colleges as institutions of choice and ease the pressure on universities.
The deputy minister said the country was burdened by unemployed graduates because they were “unemployable graduates”.
“At this moment, our economy is in dire need of engineers and artisans. We have an overabundance of graduates in the faculties of social sciences and humanities. These graduates find it difficult to enter the job market because they are unemployable,” Manana said.
He told delegates that government needed the private sector to open up apprenticeships and full employment opportunities for college graduates.
“This calls for commitment, creativity and innovation to make education fashionable,” he said.
The government sought to increase enrolment at TVET institutions to 1,25 million by 2030, which stood at 670 455 in 2013, compared to 358 393 in 2010.
Manana said TVET’s had previously been known as further education and training (FET) colleges. “This is much more than a name change. It is the beginning of a whole new era for colleges. This is an important moment in the development of the country’s post-school and training system.
“In the rest of the world, TVET is a well-known concept. The name change therefore also aligns us with international practice. It also signals the importance of integrating formal education with practical training.”
“Aligning our colleges to a world of work is no longer negotiable. This means colleges and employers collaborating for the prosperity of individual citizens as well as the economy. Industry must be involved in every aspect of life at a TVET college,” he said.
Douglas Mailula from the ANCYL in the Seshego cluster said: “by making education fashionable, the trend will eradicate the scourge of substance abuse and teenage pregnancies among young people”.
