All of us in the development field want ‘results,’ presumably – but what does this mean? Does the focus on results translate into top-down, centralised, short-termism, or do we (development practitioners, donors, foundations, experts of one hue or another) see results in terms of long term sustainable change, that works for the communities we’re rooting… Read More
Youth unemployment needs action now as well as long term strategies
South Africa’s stubborn – and tragic – problem of large scale, long term, structural unemployment, especially amongst the country’s youth, needs long term, structural solutions: radical improvements in early childhood education and basic education, re-establishing the link between technical and vocational education and training and the workplace ranking high amongst them. This useful article by… Read More
Another ‘lost generation’ in SA?
The REDI3x3 and National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) provide not just a snapshot but a moving picture (in both senses of moving) of youth unemployment and poverty in South Africa. Particularly sobering is the fact that even when young people do find jobs they struggle to retain them – there is no linear progression, but… Read More
South African Higher Education Reviewed: Two Decades of Democracy
For those of you who are interested in the development of higher education in post-apartheid South Africa, in African higher education, and in comparative international higher education, the recent publication by the Council of Higher Education in South Africa of a 20-year review, South African Higher Education Reviewed: Two Decades of Democracy will come as… Read More
The Role of Higher Education in Closing the Skills Gap in South Africa
The Role of Higher Education in Closing the Skills Gap in South Africa, a paper written by Glen Fisher and Professor Ian Scott of the University of Cape Town for the World Bank’s Human Development Group, Africa Region, characterizes higher education in South Africa as a ‘low participation, high attrition’ system, arguing that improving graduation… Read More
