The skills level of black African workers has not increased as it should have over the past 20 years, with the skills level of black youth aged 25 to 34 having regressed, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) statistician-general Pali Lehohla said on Monday.

Releasing the ‘Youth employment, unemployment, skills and economic growth 1994-2014’ report, Lehohla noted that, during the 20-year period, skilled employment among black Africans only increased by three percentage points, compared with increases of 26 percentage points and 19 percentage points respectively in the Indian/asian and white categories.

“The skills level is not doing what it should among blacks, while whites and Indians are moving aggressively on this front,” Lehohla stated.

He said the quality of education for most black children was poor, pointing out that, by the end of Grade 12, South Africa had lost half of every cohort entering the schooling system.

He did, however, note that, since 1994, there had been a shift in the black workforce from low-skilled to semiskilled employment.

In 1994, low-skilled workers had made up 43% of the black workforce, while by 2014 this figure had declined by nine percentage points to 34%, with semiskilled workers as a percentage of the total black workforce having increased by six percentage points to 48%.

Lehohla indicated that there were various reasons for insufficient skills development, which included the apartheid legacy, the closure of teacher training institutions, the ineffective merging of educational institutions and the ineffectiveness of outcome-based education.

In addition, ineffective teaching and bad subject choices, weak administration, the unwillingness of business to invest in employee training and parents not playing the required role in their children’s education also contributed to the situation.

Also speaking at the release of the report, Deputy Minister in the Presidency Buti Manamela said this data showed that, while some gains had been made, South Africa still had a task ahead to reverse the plight of black African and coloured people.

He noted that while black Africans had benefitted from the 5.3-million jobs that had been created since the advent of democracy with employment levels having increased, skills levels had declined among the youth, which pointed to a generational challenge.

Manamela noted that this had to be dealt with at school level by making education fashionable among the youth and encouraging maths and science as subjects.

“We need to intervene in a generation that is facing a catastrophe,” he said, stating that this Stats SA report would be taken into account when drafting the National Youth Policy 2015 – 2019.

UNEMPLOYMENT
Meanwhile, with regard to unemployment, Lehohla noted that South Africa had an unemployment rate of 25% in 2014, with youth making up 75% of the unemployed.

The numbers of unemployed increased for all the race groups over the 20-year period; however, the unemployment rate among black Africans had declined slightly from 43% in 1994 to 40% in 2014.

Stats SA also found that the number of unemployed, as well as the unemployment rate, for people on all educational levels had increased from 1994 to 2014, with the unemployment rate for those with tertiary qualifications having increased from 6% to 14%.

Lehohla further noted that, while the unemployment rate among black Africans with a tertiary education had increased, the unemployment rate among black Africans with a matric certificate had declined.