The past two decades have seen a raft of policy plans seeking to alleviate the pressures of youth unemployment and respond to the refrain of skills development in this cohort.
The 50 TVET colleges are located in the architecture of access to education and the labour market.
An illustration of the disconnect can be found in the Western Cape. The West Coast municipal district has identified fire and rescue, coastal management and climate change as part of its IDP 2022-27. A cursory exploration of theshows that the offerings have no direct connection to climate change mitigation, disaster management, renewable energy transitions, biodiversity and coastal conservation management, oceans economy and maritime trade.
These illustrations show evidence of the misalignment and disconnect between education and labour, education and the local needs of a local economy. Most importantly the disconnect cannot harness the power and inherent skills of young people and communities, so where people live is reflected in their lives and dreams.
And finally, campus and college expansion to rural areas so that young people have greater post-schooling options where they live. This may help stave the youth brain drain to urban centres and ensure local skills are developed for local industries by a local public TVET college.