
PANEL DISCUSSION: Challenges faced by the Youth of South Africa – And some of the solutions.
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Experts say youth unemployment in South Africa remains stubbornly high with young people between the ages of 15 and 24 accounting for 66.5% of the unemployed in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Former Statistician-General Padi Lehohla maintains that access to quality education is the only answer for dealing with the high youth unemployment.
Others say government needs to liberalise the economy to create conditions for job creation.
Research by Statistics South Africa shows that a growing number of young people have been discouraged with the labour market and are also not building on their skills base through education and training.
As Stats SA prepares to release the quarterly labour force survey for the first quarter of 2022 on Tuesday, Lehohla says government’s youth employment programmes are not enough to adequately deal with the problem.
Former Statistician-General Padi Lehohla maintains that access to quality education is the only answer for dealing with the high youth unemployment.
Others say government needs to liberalise the economy to create conditions for job creation.
Research by Statistics South Africa shows that a growing number of young people have been discouraged with the labour market and are also not building on their skills base through education and training.
As Stats SA prepares to release the quarterly labour force survey for the first quarter of 2022 on Tuesday, Lehohla says government’s youth employment programmes are not enough to adequately deal with the problem.

