Publications
Partners
South Africa stands at a crossroad with the date of the 2024 national elections nearing. Expectations and hope for a better future mingles with anxieties about the challenges, though.
Citizens are hungry for leaders capable of confronting the unemployment rate, currently at 33,9%, and the skills crisis. These figures represent the harsh reality endured by millions with widespread poverty, social unrest, and a deep-seated sense of despair.
To break free from this crippling stagnation, a progressive revolution is needed, not revolution of education, skills, opportunities, and politicking. Such a revolution demands a concerted effort, from both the government and private sector. Investments in education must be intensified and much-needed experiential learning, ensuring quality learning reaches every corner of the country, and vocational programmes must be given a complete overhaul.
Industries like mining, must be used as a potent catalyst for change and nurturing the talent hidden within through multi-skilling programmes that equip locals to operate machinery, coupled with dedicated channels to integrate them into the workforce. The union of education and employment must be a regarded and utilised as a powerful force for progress.
Imagine a young woman and young man from a rural village, equipped with the skills to operate a drone, mapping mineral deposits with precision. This is the future we must strive for: a future where skills development acts as a bridge, connecting education to a fulfilling professional life, in which individuals are empowered to provide for themselves and their families.
As a result, poverty will recede, replaced by the dignity of economic self-sufficiency. Crime rates will plummet, and communities once fractured by despair, will find unity in their shared prosperity.
A watershed opportunity is presented with the 2024 election to build a South Africa where dignity and hope are not luxuries, but fundamental rights.
A watershed opportunity for us to choose leaders who understand this fundamental interplay between education and employment; leaders who will champion the skills revolution, investing in our youth, equipping them to become the architects of our tomorrow.
To this end, training providers in every sector can make a significant difference by embracing this philosophy wholeheartedly and manifesting such a commitment through the provision of tailored training that recognises the importance of forging strong partnerships between corporates and communities.
Training providers can achieve this by dispensing the tools, providing guidance, and delivering a platform for communities to take charge of their own path toward growth and prosperity.
As we stand on the cusp of change, ready to cast our ballots, let us remember – the seeds of progress can only be sown in education, nurtured by skills development, and reaped in the fertile ground of employment.
Let us make the 2024 election a catalyst for real, lasting change; a moment where South Africa embraces the transformative power of the integration of education and employment. Investing in the future of our country, starts today.
- Jacques Farmer is the managing director of Prisma Training Solutions.
Writers interested in having their opinion pieces published for free in BloemExpress are welcome to submit their writings via email to teboho.setena@media24.com, to be considered for publication. Opinion pieces must not exceed 500 words, and must also be accompanied by a useable, high-quality photo.
