Expectations of the unemployed in South Africa: An education system perspective

Abstract

South Africa re-entered the world economy after 1994 with several disadvantages, of which an exceptionally high unemployment rate and a low-skilled labour force were the most challenging. Each year over the past decade increasing numbers of jobs have been destroyed in South Africa. The challenge facing South Africa in addressing the problem of job creation is aggravated by the fact that its labour force is predominantly low skilled. Various innovative measures for enhancing the skills base in South Africa have been introduced since the first democratic elections in 1994. The new policies are designed to deal with the country's lack of international competitiveness and the low rates of investment in the development of human capital. Since 1994, several policies and strategies have been put in place with the aim of creating jobs in various sectors of the South African economy. This states that an integrated approach to the implementation of the different innovative policy frameworks by the responsible public service departments is needed. A model for prioritisation in skills formation is given.

Keywords:

• Economy
• education
• globalisation
• job creation
• labour force
• skills training
• unemployment