Young delegates at the KwaZulu-Natal Youth Parliament turned a modest hall in Bulwer into a frontline of educational rebellion — demanding a complete overhaul of South Africa’s “outdated” school curriculum to reflect the digital age, black experience and the harsh realities of township and rural life.
More than 70 delegates, representing the MK Party, IFP, ANC, DA, EFF, and NFP, condemned the current syllabus as “disconnected and obsolete”, aligning themselves with a rising tide of academics and education experts who argue the system is locking out a generation desperate for relevance, agency and opportunity.
The delegates called for the urgent inclusion of AI and digital literacy, entrepreneurship, climate awareness, African history and mental health support — arguing a curriculum stuck in the past cannot prepare learners for a world that’s already moved on.
Minenhle Mthiyane, a 28-year-old member of the IFP Youth Brigade, said with youth unemployment now at 62.4%, it was time for government to confront the failures of the basic education system.
“We are facing a dire situation where young people spend 12 years in school, yet leave with no practical skills — just theory,” he said. “They can’t use their hands, can’t start a business, can’t even grow food. They become a burden to their families.”
“It’s time we ask what skills are needed in today’s globalised world — and start teaching those. Our resolutions at this Youth Parliament must not be shelved. They must be adopted into the formal education system if we are serious about reducing youth unemployment.”
Young people spend 12 years in school and emerge with no usable skills. I often say that is not education — it is betrayal.
— Dr Pali Lehohla, former statistician-general
Hanock Berhe, a 25-year-old ANCYL member from Pietermaritzburg, echoed those concerns — saying the post-apartheid education system had failed to reflect the needs of young people or the economy.
“We in the KZN ANC Youth League believe our education system is not preparing youth for independence. We lack technical, financial and entrepreneurial training,” he said. “It’s time we transform the curriculum to reflect modern realities and future challenges.”
Manqoba Dlamini, 29, EFF Youth Command provincial convener from Newcastle, said they will lobby for curriculum reform to top the agenda at the upcoming national dialogue.
“We are calling for the decolonisation of our education system. In China, for example, learners aged six to 15 are equipped with skills to design gadgets like phones and machines. Here, our schooling trains us to join the working class — not to build businesses or create jobs,” he said.
“We learn to memorise insect parts or colour vehicles, not how to invent or innovate. And if the youth are not leading that national dialogue, it’ll be a betrayal — because it’s our future that’s on the table.”
Their frustration is backed by sobering data: more than 4.8-million young people are unemployed, and 153,000 youth jobs were lost in just the first quarter of 2025, according to Statistics South Africa.
The World Bank has warned South Africa is facing a severe learning crisis, with education outcomes far below what would be expected given the country’s level of development and investment in the sector.
In its February 2025 South Africa Economic Update, the bank noted 80% of grade 4 learners could not understand what they were reading, and that the system suffers from low teaching quality, weak accountability and declining real-term budgets — all of which undermine the country’s ability to equip its youth with the skills needed for meaningful employment
Former statistician-general Dr Pali Lehohla believes the call to overhaul South Africa’s education system is fully justified, arguing that the current model has become a conveyor belt into unemployment rather than a springboard for transformation.
“Young people spend 12 years in school and emerge with no usable skills. I often say that is not education — it is betrayal,” he said.
He added that the national dialogue offers a rare opportunity to reset the country’s trajectory, including a complete redesign of the education system. “If we miss this moment, we risk entrenching a cycle of exclusion that will haunt us for generations.”
Across the country, education experts have echoed these concerns, calling for urgent, systemic reform. Prof Heloise Sathorar, executive dean of the faculty of education at Nelson Mandela University, said South Africa must stop expecting learners from unequal contexts to perform under equal conditions.
“If we want education to be the transformative force we claim it is, we must redesign the curriculum to reflect learners’ lived realities, embrace multilingualism and close the digital divide,” she wrote.
Muzi Mahlambi, provincial education spokesperson, didn't respond to questions on the outcomes of the KZN Youth Parliament.
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