15 August 2006
Age and lack of experience should no longer be used to justify the denial of
career opportunities to young people, Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana
urged employers in both the public and private sectors today Tuesday, 15
August.
Addressing national Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges Board
Workshop in Johannesburg, Minister Mdladlana said that, equally the tendency by
young people to depend on government to provide them with everything was a
worrying phenomenon.
âAs a country, we are sitting on a youth unemployment time bomb that is
about to explode unless we provide access to learning, livelihood
opportunities, employment and other contextual and social aspects that make up
the entire socio-economic spectrum,â he said.
Empowering young people to practice responsible citizenry as well as
assisting them to access opportunities available in the society was a challenge
for everyone.
The Minister said that if statistics suggesting that only 33,6 percent of
FET college students found unemployment after graduation, then a âserious
articulation problemâ was existing between the institutions of learning and the
labour market.
âPublic and private FET institutions, universities of technology,
comprehensive universities, SETAs and workplaces have a crucial role to play in
assisting our people to gain intermediate and practical skills to build our
economy and to create the much needed decent jobs,â he said.
The FET Board Workshop, whose theme was âThe alignment of Further Education
and Training Colleges to the Human Resources Development Priorities of
Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA)â is an
annual event which was taking place for the second time.
Enquiries:
Mokgadi Pela
Cell: 082 808 2168
Issued by: Department of Labour
15 August 2006
