Key challenges areas for youth in South Africa – The causes, effects, needs and potential solutions

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Key challenges areas for youth in South Africa – The causes, effects, needs and potential solutions

During various stakeholder engagement sessions, we held targeted discussions among delegates regarding key challenge areas surrounding youth development. In doing so, we highlighted five challenge areas, all of which we cover on the Voices Unite platform:

Education and skills development
Funding
Work experience
Infrastructure
Psychosocial health

To guide stakeholder engagement on these issues, we specifically explored key connections between relevant Causes, Effects, Needs and Solutions (CENS).

All in all, all of our discussions in lead-up to the launch of the Voices Unite platform demonstrate the need for targeted, holistic, collaborative solutions to the complex problems confronting South Africa’s tertiary youth.

In what follows, it is important to bear in mind that the views expressed merely represent the outcomes of short discussions and are thus in no way exhaustive of the full complexity at play.

CHALLENGE 1: Education and skills development

CAUSES

Too much emphasis is placed on academics and too little emphasis is placed on vocational studies
The prevailing emphasis on increased access to education tends to overlook the quality of existing education
Students lack guidance and are thus unable to align their studies with their career aspirations
Funding deficit inhibits access to tertiary education

EFFECTS

University dropout rates are very high due to lack of funding and personal guidance
The quality of existing education is generally quite low due to overemphasis on access
Lack of access to suitable forms of education entrenches under-qualification in the labour market
Unemployment is exacerbated by inadequate preparation for the transition from tertiary education to the workplace

NEEDS

Increased funding is needed to enable disadvantaged students to access tertiary education
The amplification of vocational training should go hand in hand with the provision of adequate learning materials to students
The youth should receive personal mentoring and career guidance early on in secondary education

SOLUTIONS

Increased support and collaboration from government and related stakeholders is required to identify viable long-term solutions
Social and corporate activism is required in order to ensure the implementation of adequate measures
Increased emphasis should be placed on the importance and respectability of vocational training

CHALLENGE 2: Funding

CAUSES

Income disparity limits the availability of funds for youth seeking to study, particularly when their families are vulnerable to poverty
The ‘black tax’ phenomenon exerts a massive toll on black youth responsible for supporting their families while on funding
The prevailing funding deficit is greatly exacerbated due to incompetent coordination and allocation capacities

EFFECTS

Challenges with funding feed into high dropout rates, as students are not able to finance their studies to completion
Apart from high drop-out rates, insufficient funding also exerts a significant toll on the psychophysiological health of students due to food insecurity and related challenges, thereby reducing performance capacity
The psychosocial effects of poverty further reduce the capacity of students to perform and often result in depression and anxiety

NEEDS

More efficient coordination of allocative resources is required at an institutional level
Coordination efforts need to take stock of critical feedback from key stakeholders across sectors
More attention needs to be paid to the financial complexities confronting youth

SOLUTIONS

The funding issue, like most issues experienced by youth today, is highly complex and has deep historical roots. Hence, more time is required for strategic deliberations.
The existing pool of bursaries, scholarships and related funding mechanisms must be broadened so as to allow for greater inclusion
Students must be encouraged to take ownership of financial risk and responsibility
Funding should be approached as a social welfare issue

CHALLENGE 3: Work experience

CAUSES

Most students are unaware of the importance of personal and professional networks in determining employment prospects and are therefore left at a disadvantage by the time they graduate
Insufficient job access poses a considerable impediment to the acquisition of work experience
Graduates typically have unrealistic expectations of the job market and expect too much too soon

EFFECTS

Graduates without access to robust networks are typically more likely to be unemployed than those with such access, thus exacerbating youth unemployment
Lack of access to jobs reinforces youth unemployment in a vicious cycle of systemic disempowerment
Unrealistic expectations and entitlement causes graduates to turn down low-paying opportunities, thus forfeiting valuable experience and entrenching the cycle of unemployment

NEEDS

On the one hand, graduate expectations need to be carefully managed so as not to inspire false expectations among the youth
On the other hand, employers need to make greater efforts to accommodate fresh graduates and job seekers within their organisations, thus facilitating critical upskilling
There is a need for concerted training programs engendered through strategic collaboration between key stakeholders in different sectors

SOLUTIONS

Part-time and informal work experience should be recognised as legitimate, thus allowing for wider recognition of graduate competencies
Job seeking youth should open their minds to less conventional forms of opportunity, such as volunteering and interning
Greater efforts should be made to provide platforms for youth upskilling, thereby providing increased avenues to employment for youth
Youth-focused collaboration between key stakeholders across sectors is imperative

CHALLENGE 4: Infrastructure

CAUSES

Poor service delivery inhibits the capacity of students to attend to their studies
Entrenched historical patterns of unequal spatial organisation continue to impact students
Demand of critical technological infrastructure exceeds supply
Schools are insufficiently equipped to empower students with technical skills

EFFECTS

Poor service delivery exacerbates inequality by depriving underprivileged students of the means to excel
Spatial asymmetries also entrench inequality and reinforce the injustices of the past
Lack of supply reinforces poor service provision and deficits in technical expertise
Infrastructurally deficient schools limit the capacity of students to learn and excel

NEEDS

Increased investment in service provision with focus on marginalised communities is required
Emphasis needs to be placed on the importance of green infrastructure going forward
Increased access to technology is needed in order to empower youth to leverage ongoing advances in technology
More emphasis needs to be placed on the importance of technological competence in education

SOLUTIONS

Existing infrastructure must be repaired and maintained while galvanising investment for ongoing improvements
Urgent attention needs to be paid to spatial inequalities and corresponding mechanisms for resolution
Government needs to pour more resources into education, with particular emphasis on technological capacitation
The schooling system needs to prioritise technological competencies across all phases

CHALLENGE 5: Psychosocial health

CAUSES

Successive phases of learning are plagued by inconsistent standards and expectations
Limited life and career guidance impedes the capacity of students to make good decisions
Students and youth are plagued by deficits of emotional and psychological support throughout their learning careers
Families and institutions tend to lack insight into the full spectrum of psychosocial barriers affecting students

EFFECTS

Due to lack of consistent standards and expectations, students find themselves unable to adapt to academic demands
Due to lack of guidance and mentorship, students often make poor decisions with negative long-term consequences
Lack of emotional and psychological support results in anxiety and depression among youth
Lack of insight into existing psychosocial challenges prevents society from being able to adequately address youth challenges

NEEDS

There is a need for holistically designed curricula imbued with consistent standards and expectations across all learning phases
There is a need for increased mentorship and career guidance for youth
There is a need for increased emotional and psychological support for youth and students
There is a need for families, communities and institutions to attain enhanced understanding of the psychosocial challenges confronting youth

SOLUTIONS

Key stakeholders must collaborate across sectoral boundaries to inform the construction of holistically aligned curricula
Resources must be allocated for increased mentorship and career guidance for students at all levels of learning
Mechanisms must be put in place to encourage families, communities and institutions to learn more about the psychosocial challenges confronting students

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4 responses on this

WILLET January 30, 2020 11:55 am

I pray and I’m willing to fight until our voices are hd

Voices Unite January 30, 2020 1:28 pm

Keep on fighting Willet!

Nhlalala Baloyi January 30, 2020 8:47 pm

After completing my grade 12 with good grades, I could finally get into one of the biggest universities in SA, university of Johannesburg.studying a course I’ve always wanted to do which is Civil Engineering. With everything on my favour,challenges came and I had to change the University within two weeks of study to Vaal University of technology of Technology..i did not want to be there, but because after grade 12,we all just wanna be in varsity.. Peer pressure and all that. I met some beautiful souls there and I’m glad I did. I had to stay the whole year studying a course I knew nothing about. I remained focused to what I wanted in life, and that alone made me survive the year. After a year in VUT, I finally went to Tshwane University of Technology where I’m currently studying civil engineering. The message I’m trying to pass is.. As young as we are we have to be able to study the consequences of your actions before you make a decision and in that way, you are able to survive a lot of challenges that not many people can survive. Don’t let minor challenges you come across distract you from getting to your dream.Expect challenges to come, that’s where a lot of learning happens.

Voices Unite January 30, 2020 8:46 am

Such an inspiring story Nhlalala, thank you for sharing it. Agreed, it is through dealing with challenges that we learn more about ourselves and the things that happen around us. It is where we learn how to persevere and overcome.