Train job creators and widen vocational training, says Buti Manamela

South Africa’s education system is failing to connect young people to real opportunities, higher education minister Buti Manamela warned at the National Education Summit, painting a picture of millions of young people stuck with no clear future.

Speaking to policymakers, educators and pupils on Monday, Manamela grounded his message in a stark reality.

“I want to begin with a number, which is a very unsettling number: 3.4 million young South Africans are not in employment, education or training,” he said. “That’s not a statistic from a report, but it is the lived reality of many young people in our country.”

Behind that number, he said, are real lives, young people who have finished school but see no way forward, graduates with qualifications but no opportunities, and young women in rural areas who remain excluded despite their potential.

For Manamela, the problem is bigger than unemployment.

“What that number tells us clearly … is this: a crisis is not necessarily only unemployment, but it is also a crisis of pathways,” he said.

The system is not guiding young people from learning into work. It is not helping them turn their ambitions into a real livelihood.

He described education as a “bridge” to opportunity, but warned that the bridge was not working as it should.

“Education is not merely a sector. It is the bridge between that waiting and economic citizenship,” he said. “The question before us is simple: Are we strengthening the bridge?”

Manamela said the education system should work like a pipeline, starting from early childhood and ending in employment. But right now, that pipeline is leaking at key points, he said.

The first problem starts early in a child’s life.

While the government has increased funding for early childhood development, many children are still falling behind before they even start school.

“The Thrive by Five index tells us that only 42% of South African children are developmentally on track by age five,” he said.

“This means inequality is not simply reproduced later in life. It is reproduced early.”

Prof Mashupye Herbert Maserumule, executive dean in the faculty of humanities at the Tshwane University of Technology, made a similar point at the summit, stressing that a child’s future is shaped from the very beginning.

“A transformative livelihood does not just happen. It starts from the cuddle,” he said.

He described early childhood as the stage where “the blueprint is drawn”, warning that many children never get the strong start they need.

Citing data from Unicef, Maserumule said access continues to be a major issue.

“About two out of every three children who should be in ECD programmes cannot get into them,” he said.

“Even if children go to early learning centres, the education they get is often of poor quality. We need to fix that,” said Maserumule.

As children move through the system, the challenges continue.

Job creation

Manamela also noted there are not enough job openings to absorb young people in the formal sector. “So we must build a system that has not only prepared job seekers, but produces job creators.”

He pointed to growing efforts in TVET colleges, where thousands of students are now being introduced to entrepreneurship. But he stressed that young people also need real support, access to funding, markets and mentorship to succeed.

Without this, he warned, entrepreneurship will remain out of reach for many.

Vocational training

The final gap lies in vocational training, where demand is high but opportunities are limited.

“Our economy requires … 30,000 artisans every year. We’re currently producing about 20,000,” said Manamela.

“This gap is not just a statistic. It is a constraint on growth.”

He said many young people are eager to gain skills, but colleges lack space, resources and strong links to industry.

“If they don’t get that exposure … we will not complete our dual training system,” he said.

Both Manamela and Maserumule agreed that the country does not lack ideas but struggles to put them into action.

“Our challenge is not lack of programmes but fragmentation,” said Manamela.

Different parts of the system are not working together, and this is leaving young people stuck in the middle.

“Every young person in South Africa must have a pathway. They must know where they should go,” he said.

With the country more than three decades into democracy, Manamela said the real test is whether education can deliver dignity through opportunity.

“What does freedom mean for the young person who has no pathway?”

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