NDP has simplistic view of SA youth – survey

Skills mismatch between school and job market

SOUTH Africa’s economic road map to 2030 “simplifies” young people‚ who have complex and nuanced views‚ the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) said this week.

A press conference in Parkhurst on Tuesday was the first of four centred on key findings from the 2012 South African Reconciliation Barometer survey titled “Ticking Time Bomb or Demographic Dividend”.

Kate Lefko-Everett‚ senior project leader for the survey‚ said the government viewed the youth with fear and trepidation or as a tool to drive economic success. “The National Development Plan [NDP] document calls the youth ‘the single greatest risk to social stability’ and ‘social and developmental catastrophes’‚” she said. “Despite all this‚ the youth are quite optimistic about their future. However‚ there is a disjunction between their optimism – thinking that if they go to school and do well‚ they will find jobs – and the reality of the job and labour market.”

Dr Azar Jammine‚ director and chief economist at Econometrix‚ said education often contributed to unemployment among young people.

“This is largely because their transition takes longer. Importantly‚ their 30-plus cohorts with higher education have lower unemployment rates. Transition takes so long because of a lack of job offers and skills mismatches between what education provides and what employers need‚” he said.

In South Africa‚ 2.8-million people of 18 to 24 years old are neither employed nor enrolled in any institution of learning.

Overall‚ a quarter of South Africans are jobless. Unemployment among young black people is 65%‚ up from 56% in 2008.

The World Economic Forum ranks South Africa 113th out of 144 countries in labour market efficiency‚ 143rd for rigid hiring and firing practices‚ 140th for a lack of flexibility in wage determination and 144th for tensions in labour relations. Possible solutions to youth unemployment have been bandied about in parliament. Last year‚ the DA took to the streets to push for the implementation of the youth wage subsidy‚ which Cosatu rejected. This led to a violent clash between the two organisations.

The ANC put forward a job seekers’ grant as a solution but that, too, was rejected. The current plan is a youth employment tax incentive‚ which Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan hopes will encourage companies to employ young people.

The government has budgeted R500-million for the scheme. — BDlive