“During the practical training, which includes workplace training, young people will be sent to organisations to do what they have learned during the theory training.”
THE DEPUTY Minister of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Sdumo Dlamini, noted the high levels of unemployment amongst the youth at the graduation ceremony of 951 youths that completed the National Rural Youth Service Corps (Narysec) leadership development programme at the 3 SA Infantry Battalion military base yesterday.
Burden
He stated that according to StatsSA, the burden of unemployment is concentrated amongst the youth (aged between 15 to 34 years) as they account for 63.4 percent of unemployed persons.
“The report says that almost four out of every 10 young people in the labour force are unemployed, with the unemployment rate within this group at 39.6% in the 1st quarter of 2019.
“The report also says that the historical data shows that compared to the fourth quarter of every year, unemployment among youth increases in the first quarter of every year. This is mainly due to new entrants into the labour market. The majority, which amounts to 85.7 percent of the young unemployed graduates aged 15 to 24 years, were new entrants into the labour market during the first quarter of 2019, while the rest have either lost their previous jobs, left their previous jobs or were re-entrants into the labour market.”
Dlamini pointed out that the economy of the country could not grow without getting youths to play a role.
“They have ideas, energy and time and through our Narysec programme we are tapping into this energy, ideas and time. The programme includes leadership development training, skills development and community service and aims to reduce unemployment and poverty by encouraging youths to get involved in entrepreneurship and increase literacy.”
He added that the programme would be linked to higher education and training so that graduates could register at TVET colleges for learnerships in the field of study that they selected.
“During the practical training, which includes workplace training, young people will be sent to organisations to do what they have learned during the theory training.”
Dlamini stated that the programme was a joint project involving the Department of Defence, military veterans, 3 SAI military base, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development and the Thaba Nchu College.
