Review of National Youth Policy to focus on unskilled and unemployed coloured and black youth The review of the National Youth Policy will focus on unskilled and unemployed coloured and black youth, Deputy Minister in the Presidency Buti Manamela said on Monday. Speaking following the release of a report on youth unemployment in the past 20-year period by statistician-general Pali Lehohla, Manamela said: I will be using the [youth unemployment] figures in the drafting of the National Youth Policy 2015-2019 to ensure that we drive the whole of government, civil society and the private sector to invest our energies in bettering the lives of young people. The report found that black youth aged 25 to 34 had lost out on acquiring skills in the 20-year period compared to their coloured, Indian and white counterparts. Youth unemployment was at 36.1%, with jobless youth making up 75% of the countrys unemployed, Lehohla indicated. Manamela said at least 234,000 youth graduates were unemployed, while there were even more unemployed youth with Grade 12 and graduates from Further Education and Training (FET) colleges. Immediate steps had to be taken to reverse the scourge, with one of the areas needing focus in order to influence future generations was at the level of schools so as to change the plight of those aged seven to 19 currently in school. Also, pupils should be enabled and encouraged to take up science and technology subjects, especially among the black population. The reviewed national youth policy will be signed by Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe in March 2015.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 18:56:28 +0000
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