Future is bright
Despite the weakening of global economic recovery, which has further aggravated job crises in many countries around the world, South African youth remain optimistic about their prospects of finding a job in the country, an annual youth survey conducted by University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) reveals.
The findings show that the youth are very much aware about what is happening around them and the ‘Mandela generation’ is very positive about their future career prospects: 84% of the nearly 2 300 grade 11 and 12 learners surveyed believe that South Africa has a bright future and they are ready to tackle it with all its challenges.
The survey results clearly show a different perspective of the perceptions of South African youth. The survey asked the learners to rate a number probing questions about themselves and the country on various scales from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”. Some highlights included the following:
- Learners were not convinced that racism was still a major problem in South Africa, with 86% believing that South Africa has improved since the end of apartheid. In a reminder that these youth have grown up in an integrated South Africa, 88% of learners believe that diversity of the country was one of its strengths. These youth are the generation that is writing a new story for South Africa.
- Despite negative perceptions about the country’s education system, an overwhelming 90% believed that the education they were receiving currently was adequately preparing them to tackle future challenges and access careers in the globalised world. Although 72% of learners could see themselves emigrating in the future, 76% of learners believe they will have a better career in South Africa than elsewhere in the world. Less than half of learners believed that they would be unemployed if they remained in South Africa.
- §Of the learners surveyed, 82% believed that in 2014, black South Africans have the same opportunities that white South Africans had in the past.
Phyllis Byars, associate director at the Centre for Leadership and Dialogue at GIBS, said, “We use the GIBS CareerExpo as a platform to engage youth in self-exploration to help them identify their interests, which we believe is a critical step in the career development process for all young people. The annual youth survey is always an eye-opener; it is so encouraging to see how driven and hungry today’s youth are. It is clear that they are not carrying weight of the past into the future with them and are carving their own paths towards a prosperous future.
“The survey results provide ‘food for thought’ for our current leaders, adds Byars. “Serious measures have to be implemented in order to meet the demands of these youth who are on their way to form part of the workforce in less than five years from now. Key stakeholders need to implement programmes like those outlined in the National Development Plan’s vision 2030, where it envisages an economy that serves the needs of all South Africans, an economy in full employment; people equipped with needed skills; equip people with much needed skills; and provide resources to pay for investment in human and physical capital among other things.”
