By: Khumbulani Mngadi
According to the recent statistics on youth unemployment in South Africa, 3 million young people are said to be unemployed. This is a frustratingly alarming publication indeed.
There is an apparent shift in trends, it is no longer youth without matric certificates as was the case in the past, it is now university graduates, college graduates and even TVETs graduates who are struggling to secure employment.
There are many levels that this phenomenon can be looked at, including the role of government (policy on youth development), overall SA education system (both basic and higher education and training), private sector (funding, sponsorship, donations, apprentice and internship programs), universities and training colleges. Of all the above, I want to zoom into the Basic Education Sector i.e., schooling system as one major contributor to all that we see now as alarming unemployment rate.
According to the 2019 statistics, South Africa has about 25 000 schools. Over 92.3% of these schools are public schools and only about 7.7% are independent schools. A greater number of these public schools are heavily dependent on government, grants, and subsidies. The lion’s share of these schools is zero fees’ schools. Historically, very few if any government schools were vocational schools, a lot of vocational schools we have had were denominational schools e.g., catholic or protestant schools.
Over the years, this differentiation has narrowed with churches running short of donations and funding due to a number of reasons.
This has added a burden on government which is forced to absorb these schools and carry their costs. Post-apartheid there were still areas especially in rural areas that did not have schools, the democratic government had to build those schools.
As a country, we need to intentionally reflect on the current schooling system we have had throughout the last 28 years of our democracy. We need to objectively reflect on how we have travelled this journey, point out the merits and demerits of our journey. This exercise, I contend, will allow us time and space to reflect on several things that we have done wrong both at policy and implementation level.
Since 1994 we have had several imported education systems e.g. NATED 550, outcome-based education, revised national curriculum statement, national curriculum statements and curriculum assessment policy statement that I believe were not educationally fit for our environment. On one hand, these fluid position on policies we took were plainly political. They had zero impact educationally, instead they created us this uncontrollable unemployment debacle. On the other hand, the schooling administration was shambolic zero accountability on the part of inspectors, principals and teachers.
These two factors open the system up to too many unintended flaws. One of which is this soaring rate of youth unemployment.
The level of unemployability of our youth is worrisome and it must compel us to rethink our schooling system. Granted, youth unemployment is a universal problem but our statistics is so high that it is obvious that ours is peculiar.
This peculiarity means that things need to be done differently. We should have a larger percentage of vocational schools at secondary level.
This point needs to be ventilated broader in our national discourse. I strongly believe that we erred with our fluid schooling system policy. We should have invested more on a vocational schooling system from the beginning since we are a transitional state.
This could have assisted us in many fronts i.e., (i) Naturally vocational schools do not rely on matric results for career prospects. (ii) The exit at secondary level is enough for manual skills and if the training is sound enough the mastered skills can be utilized immediately. Whereas, the matric barometer becomes a hindrance to many for it only allows for career access post matric.
One has to pass this matric with minimum standards regardless of subject combinations. As a transitional state this approach was suicidal from the beginning.
Linked to the point above, our education is populated by politicians not teachers. Cleanse the system of all politicians and leave dedicated teachers in the classroom. In most public schools, there is zero accountability, inspectors, principals and teachers lack work ethics and schools consequently perform badly.
We need a new breed of administrators and teachers that are technically suited to teach in these vocational schools. We need new administrators with vision, principals of the new millennium who are technologically savvy and boardroom oriented. Principals who understand the symbiotic relationship between schools and private sectors, subsequently the overall idea of running a modern school.
The selection of efficient School Governing Bodies is also important in this instance. An assumption is that most SGBs are now run by graduates, at least in most schools that I know. If SGBs are genuinely interested in effecting change, much more could be done in terms of programs that are geared on orienting pupils to choose career paths that are relevant.
The SGBs can also approach companies with CSIs offices and apply for funding support for their respective schools.
These efforts can assist schools with infrastructure, expertise and many other beneficial programs that do not only exposes pupils to these environments but also stimulate interest in other career paths outside their comfort zones.
As it stands, our schooling system is at odds with economic demands of the country and globally. This is even more visible at tertiary level when students apply for spaces, this however is a debate for another day.
At basic level, as we have been accustomed to categorize our system, kids are not taught technical subjects, consequently these subjects become scarce skills at all levels.
We need to rethink our education system so that it is responsive to the current economic climate. This lack of relevant curricula has ripple effect as kids progress with their education. From grade 10-12 kids waste their time doing wrong subjects partly because teachers themselves are not properly trained or have no clue whatsoever in what they are doing because the system failed them too.
Yes, vocational schools require more funding and infrastructure, that is where the private sector comes in.
There should be a symbiotic relationship between the private sector, the government and parents.
Government should provide a conducive environment for the private sector to play a meaningful role in the education system. The political argument that is flown around as to who should create jobs between government and private sector would not arise.
These two sectors are very key in ensuring that our education system is effective. Government should lead in this by creating enabling policies for the sector to play a meaningful role in the education space. From ground level (basic education) right up to the top (post matric and higher education).
Increase the number of vocational schools and reduce mainstream schools. This could take longer but if the policies are crafted carefully the results can be very beneficial to the nation. There is a lot one can propose.
The points made are instructive enough to start a debate on reshaping of our schooling system. This thinking will assist in a few ways i.e., career guidance at an early age in that exposure to several possibilities while still at primary and secondary.
Internationalized learning materials are very key to the cognitive development of a child. These three sectors working together i.e., government, private sectors and parents (SGB) can play a meaningful role in reshaping the future of this country by halving the possibility of unemployability.
Unlock international doors for these kids to be easily enlisted in exchange programs at an early age. If we succeed in putting our heads together and planning accordingly, these and other pertinent points can reduce levels of unemployment.
*Khumbulani Mngadi is an independent analyst based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.