Government plans more education opportunities

A national policy to educate more South Africans and combat the high unemployment rate among the youth will be rolled out over the next decade.

The main goal of the Draft National Youth Policy for 2020-2030 is to create opportunities for young people to be contributing members of society, by acknowledging their needs and developing opportunities and sustainable relationships. 

The draft plan was released on 7 February 2020.

According to the document, young people constitute 37% of the population of the country, with the youth unemployment rate sitting at 56,4%.

The 43-page document contains plans and proposals for both secondary and tertiary education.

At school level:

The Department of Basic Education should provide learners with a “second chance” to pass matric. Students who have failed matric and those who have not completed it should receive the opportunity to complete their final school year. 

All reading and teaching material should be thoroughly checked to ensure there is no sexist or racist content, while all schools should also have an anti-racism policy.

All South African learners should be required to learn an indigenous language, with the government providing the necessary support to make this possible. Sign language should also be introduced. 

All students should be computer literate, with subjects at school to help them in this regard. Teachers should also continuously be retrained so that they too are computer literate and can use technology in their teaching methods. 

Incentives should be created to attract youth to study teaching, while salaries should be competitive to that of other professions. 

At University level:

The Department of Basic Education should introduce programs to help learners to effectively transition from high school to university, by helping them cope with a different environment. 

The North-West University has the ALDE module, which teaches students academic literacy, as well as tests their reading ability and computer literacy. 

RINL is a computer component of ALDE that has been put in place to help students with their CI skills.

Dr. Mariska Nel, who heads the academic literacy department at NWU, said she feels that the university does enough to help students meet academic demands but they can only help students who already have basic literacy skills. 

“We use the TAG and TALL test to determine the academic literacy level of the students. Students who are identified as ‘at risk’ students will take the module in the first and second semester, while those who are stronger will only complete it in the second semester,” Nel said. 

“It’s a set of skills that should have been developed throughout high school. This whole process is developing, and each year we identify issues so that we can help students as much as we can.”

Onkarabetse Maleke, who had ALDE as a module in her first year said, “I think it helped a lot because writing at university and writing in high school is very different. It taught us how to write, how to be accurate and how to reference properly, all of which are very important skills.”

Government departments should create internship programs where they will be able to monitor the number of people doing internships and the quality of the work produced. 

Marumo Sello, who is currently completing his Postgraduate Certificate in Education, thinks internships will be a great idea. 

“They are advantageous in that you can easily get a job because they teach you important skills and help you prepare properly for the working world,” he said.

University qualifications should include experience opportunities so that when students graduate they have the relevant experience to find work. 

Ofentse Motene, a communication student, agreed that experience is important. 

“I feel like with communication we do theory most of the time, so I don’t know what to expect when I go into the workplace, in terms of what is required from me. “We do a lot of journalism practicals so I know what to do there, but I have an interest in public relations and I feel like I don’t know what to expect,” she said. 

Community colleges should be introduced to assist those who do not qualify to go to university. 

This will create an opportunity for young people who were unable to attend school or those who did not complete school to obtain specific qualifications that are tailored to their skills.

Government Draft National Youth Policy: http://www.governmentpublications.lib.uct.ac.za/news/draft-national-youth-policy-2020-2030