ACCORDING to Statistics South Africa, more than 10% of qualified and employable youth are sitting at home and not looking for work.
And the top reason they give is a lack of experience . . .
Ntombi Magagula, a recruiter, said that many companies only want young people with industry experience.
“It is no surprise. Experienced workers know what is expected and they adapt to do their job.
“Qualified youth, who have no industry experience, are hard to employ because it takes time and money for companies to train them.”
Holger Schonfeld, the director of the College for Business and Maritime Studies in Joburg, said tertiary institutions had academics as lecturers and they might not be people with experience working in the respective industries or jobs they teach about. They can’t prepare youngsters to carry out their jobs.
“I don’t mean to generalise, but on the whole, qualified youth in the country cannot fulfil a job as soon as they complete their studies. It takes time and effort before they understand what they’re getting into,” he said.
They need to know the theory but they also need to know how to put the theory into practice.
“Colleges and universities need to up their game and help out the youth.”
The Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, agreed. She said that even though a lot has been done to develop the youth, there is still a lot more to do.
“Our youth need to know what jobs they can do after completing their studies.
“We lose too many youngsters to jobs abroad. We need to rally colleges and universities together and make sure our children are able to work.”
Schonfeld said their college has been developing the youth of the country one step at a time over the past 15 years.
“It is not a cliché – youth are our future and if we nurture them today, tomorrow they will be equipped to take on the challenges of this country and turn them into opportunities,” he said.
If you want to know more about the maritime college or if you need career guidance, contact the college on 011 339 1301, email [email protected] or visit www.maritimecollege.co.za
