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MAKING A POINT: University of Cape Town-based southern African labour and development research unit lecturer and research associate Cecil Mlotsheni speaks at a book launch on Tuesday night. Photo: Matthews Mfubu

Cecil Mlotsheni, a lecturer and research associate at the University of Cape Town- based southern African labour and development research unit, was speaking at a book launch at the University of Western Cape (UWC) on Tuesday night.

Mlotsheni and 14 other people - including Johan Muller, deputy dean for research and humanities at UCT and Joy Papier, director of the further education and training institute at UWC, are contributors to the book.

Shaping the Future of South Africa's Youth is about the impact of youth unemployment and provides an analysis of the national qualification system on occupational training and also gives some insights in to the post-school system.

Mlotsheni said: "Young people must think very carefully about the careers they want to follow. They must make right career choices or opt for relevant skills."

He said many youths did not get career guidance and this made them choose careers not suited to them.

Many young people wanted to further their studies, but were unable to do so due to a lack of finance.

There were also not enough jobs for people because of low economic growth.

"Some young people have stopped looking for jobs because they have lost hope.

"Another problem is that the skills people have do not match what the economy requires."

Mlotsheni called on the government to grow the economy to ensure job creation.

He believes that unemployment levels will be reduced if more people are educated.

"Education also contributes to the creation of jobs."

Mlotsheni also encouraged young people to become entrepreneurs.

He urged policy-makers to find solutions to youth unemployment because it has caused a lot of uncertainty.

Northlink College chief executive Leon Beech said they had several campuses in Cape Town and had created access to education for many students.

Beech said though the book spoke about the doom and gloom regarding youth employment, their former students have secured jobs in various industries.

"We recently hosted an awards ceremony for our students. We found that many of them have found jobs in various industries."

Beech also said their bursary fund had been a stimulus and had attracted many students to the college.

Muller called on all universities to create new knowledge and research for students and other people.

"If they don't do that, we will wonder who is going to do it," he said.

Muller also said many lecturers came from various industries and that they did not have degrees.

It was important that lecturers upgrade their skills for the benefit of their institutions and students, he added.

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Wed May 22 16:04:42 SAST 2013 ::

Jun 7, 2012

DjEp

Mr Cecil you have a point, it was yesterday when i saw an article titled "most educated women celebrities.." most of them had Bachelors in Theather, Acting, etc. such qualifications are more relevant to Hollywood not in a developing country. we need hands on skills, innovations,manufacturing and production skills. we dont only blame career guiadance at school the question is did our learners went out to seek information? we r not helping by toyi toying and shouting "economic freedom in our lifetime.." if we dont hv relevant skills that can compete internationaly. we can take all the land and farms as we wish bt do we hv de skills to cultivate the land?
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Jun 7, 2012

mambaaai

DjEp
Mr Cecil you have a point, it was yesterday when i saw an article titled "most educated women celebrities.." most of them had Bachelors in Theather, Acting, etc. such qualifications are more relevant to Hollywood not in a developing country. we need hands on skills, innovations,manufacturing and production skills. we dont only blame career guiadance at school the question is did our learners went out to seek information? we r not helping by toyi toying and shouting "economic freedom in our lifetime.." if we dont hv relevant skills that can compete internationaly. we can take all the land and farms as we wish bt do we hv de skills to cultivate the land?
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and if the country had a clear growth strategy, then we could see what ill be needed in the future... so if Tourism is going to be an area of focus then gear studies for that rather than say... computer harware manufacture which does not appear to be a growth area at the moment...or in the furture.... mining was always a good one but looks to be messed up governemtn ANC style
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Jun 7, 2012

DjEp

@Mambaaai,true that. If we have a growth strategy as a country we will know which skills we may need in the near future or which one we will never need. at this stage a child goes to varsity to study anything that is availble bcs our government has not succesion plan in place.kids r thot literacy at secondary school, but the tertiary institutions says mathematics. in this way students are pushed to do "available" course like Drama, music,acting, etc. what our government dont realise is skills exchange can boost the economy, the country can say i have 20 Engineers so Australia if you need the skills we can exchange at an annual fee of X.
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Jun 7, 2012

Zezinho

Very good points but one must consider our basic education. Does it provide adequate training? Are the kids prepared for tertiary level? You end up taking some useless degree that wont benefit with anything. Fix our basic education first then we will can start talking. Our people in rural areas still dont have libraries, the only career we think of is being a doctor and nursing only.
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Jun 7, 2012

DjEp

@Zezinho, something also to think about.
we do have graduates from the rural areas, people who should help inspire the community which he grew up, but as always once i buy a Tata i move to the next cheap surburb bcs the ppl in my village are not so Ayoba. such ppl will send their kids to model A schools and make 10's of thousands donations a year to that school, which money could help a lot from the area where he/she comes from.
we will always have such schools but even worse the people in those surburs study drama and music. a friend of mine drove a Merc during our varsity days and Engineering showed him miracles and i was Johnny walker but today the opposite is true.
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Jun 7, 2012

TKay

@Zezinho
I agree with you, our basic education is failing us - scholars are only made aware of the career choices at the final stages of their secondary level and at that time they have already chosen the subjects that are far away from what they want to do. They become stuck with careers that can accommodate their chosen subjects. Career orientation should start as early as in grade 7, when they go to grade 8 they must have an idea of what kind of subjects are needed for their chosen careers or the best careers
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Jun 7, 2012

mambaaai

DjEp
@Mambaaai,true that. If we have a growth strategy as a country we will know which skills we may need in the near future or which one we will never need. at this stage a child goes to varsity to study anything that is availble bcs our government has not succesion plan in place.kids r thot literacy at secondary school, but the tertiary institutions says mathematics. in this way students are pushed to do "available" course like Drama, music,acting, etc. what our government dont realise is skills exchange can boost the economy, the country can say i have 20 Engineers so Australia if you need the skills we can exchange at an annual fee of X

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the only industry that pays well in SA is p0litics....m3ss up all the time get max $....and the only skill you need to be a p0litician is to be able to t@lk sh1t......
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Jun 7, 2012

DjEp

@Mambaaai, what other skills would you need in South african politics. We do have good skills thou but becuase we are not politicaly correct we cannot get those jobs. we have enough skills to fill all the ministry positions with relevant people. Naledi Pandor Science and Technologym, did she even attend one Science class? Suzan Shabangu Mineral Resources has she worked in a mine or attended any mining classes? i know the higher you are you need more of management than technical skills but what can she tell me about mining. i've been to more than 5 continents with my mining career and so my knowledge is way advance to can engage me in any discussions about mining.
But she makes decisions about mine safety, etc, ect.
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Jun 7, 2012

tpaz

Courses Like:

Marketing
Sales
HR
PR
secretarial
Admin
Bookkeeping
Reception

Are all useless....anyone can do such jobs....
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Jun 7, 2012

MicaParis

Dankie Buti I do not know how many times I have been preaching for this gospel in my comments on this blog. Those who are careful would have seen that. There is no use to study LLB if we have 259 LLB graduates with Admission as Attorneys not working on every street of Joburg. There is no use to study Economics and Business Management if we have 1000 graduates with Masters in that field and are not working. There is no use to study a BA Degree in any thing if we have 2000 graduates of those different majors on every corner of Pretoria. Why do not you go for Information Technology not Computer Science, there is a great deal of difference between the two, the latter is saturated as well. Why do not you go for Civil Engineering or Mining Engineering , do not do Electric Engineering is saturated as well. If you think your BA or LLB and Economics are going to be some ''golden eggs'' laid than study those disciples at your own peril and if nobody is not hiring you ten years after you have graduated do not go to Jacob Zuma/ANC and say you need a job you would have had committed suicide after you have read this article. No IT or Engineering student is unemployed cannot you see that,if you are wise you will chose wisely!
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