The youth unemployment has been the number one challenge in South Africa (SA) for long now. It is a socioeconomic challenge that has triggered other social evils like high crime rate and prostitution. This problem is even more prevalent among the poor and the middle-income segment of the population. According to the 2013 data, the jobless rate in SA stood at 63% among the youths. The state of youth unemployment in South Africa is a perennial problem that results from a failure of policies.
One-third of those aged from 14 to 24 are not in any form of employment. Since they are not involved in any formal education or training, they also fall in the category of joblessness. The economic condition is to blame for this.
Other traits that are saleable in the labor market such as good communication skills, work experience, literacy, and technical skills are often missing. This situation resulted from decades of structural failures in the side of the government.
For long, the government had been focusing on the supply side policies to address the problem while doing very little to stimulate the demand side. On the supply side, the focus has been to make formal education accessible to all, regardless of the social background. This is then supplemented with post-school technical trainings, public employment, and the deployment programs. It is a good strategy, but if the employers cannot absorb the graduates, the country ends up with many jobless graduates. This is what SA is witnessing.
In response to these, there are new strategies that have been put in place to address the problem. The Community Works Program (CWP) for instance, was rolled in 2008. This program is designed as the employment safety net. It requires that the individual's livelihood is supplemented by offering a basic income level through work. In India, where the program originated, it is called the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and it mainly targets the poorest of the poor in the society.
The Public Deployment Program has also gained fame in South Africa. The program is implemented through the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA). The target is to equip the jobless youths with the necessary skills that can make them employable. The program lasts for 12 months, after which the graduates are equipped with the technical skills.
The National Rural Youth Service Corps is also a program enrolled for the same purpose. It targets the youths in the rural areas and was first implemented in September 2010. It involves a 2 years intensive and comprehensive training in skills and the incubation programs. The trainee is then required to undertake community development projects during which they are on the government payroll for their services.
The demand side of the labor market is also set to get a boost by various economic stimulus programs. A good example is an act of the parliament that proposes to compensate the employers for hiring graduates. They are also to be compensated for the amount used for training the new recruits. However, the real solution lies in expanding the economy so that more youths can be absorbed by the industries. The solutions are not enough and the South African authorities will have to do more to fully address the problem.
One-third of those aged from 14 to 24 are not in any form of employment. Since they are not involved in any formal education or training, they also fall in the category of joblessness. The economic condition is to blame for this.
Other traits that are saleable in the labor market such as good communication skills, work experience, literacy, and technical skills are often missing. This situation resulted from decades of structural failures in the side of the government.
For long, the government had been focusing on the supply side policies to address the problem while doing very little to stimulate the demand side. On the supply side, the focus has been to make formal education accessible to all, regardless of the social background. This is then supplemented with post-school technical trainings, public employment, and the deployment programs. It is a good strategy, but if the employers cannot absorb the graduates, the country ends up with many jobless graduates. This is what SA is witnessing.
In response to these, there are new strategies that have been put in place to address the problem. The Community Works Program (CWP) for instance, was rolled in 2008. This program is designed as the employment safety net. It requires that the individual's livelihood is supplemented by offering a basic income level through work. In India, where the program originated, it is called the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and it mainly targets the poorest of the poor in the society.
The Public Deployment Program has also gained fame in South Africa. The program is implemented through the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA). The target is to equip the jobless youths with the necessary skills that can make them employable. The program lasts for 12 months, after which the graduates are equipped with the technical skills.
The National Rural Youth Service Corps is also a program enrolled for the same purpose. It targets the youths in the rural areas and was first implemented in September 2010. It involves a 2 years intensive and comprehensive training in skills and the incubation programs. The trainee is then required to undertake community development projects during which they are on the government payroll for their services.
The demand side of the labor market is also set to get a boost by various economic stimulus programs. A good example is an act of the parliament that proposes to compensate the employers for hiring graduates. They are also to be compensated for the amount used for training the new recruits. However, the real solution lies in expanding the economy so that more youths can be absorbed by the industries. The solutions are not enough and the South African authorities will have to do more to fully address the problem.
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