There is a trending video of a young boy playing a game of relay with his friends. In the video, the boy is seen taking a relay baton from his teammate. Instead of taking it forward to win the race, he is seen running in the wrong direction.
Similarly, when God called Jonah one day and told him to go preach in Nineveh because the people were very wicked, Jonah wanted nothing to do with it and fled in the opposite direction to Tarshish.
The story of Jonah is relatable to the story of June 16 1976 versus what is happening now, but with a little stark contrast.
As we reflect to the day, we need to ask ourselves what happened to the current generation that was supposed to take the June 16 baton forward and take the country to Nineveh, where the 1976 students wanted to go. If we are to blame, should the blame be on students’ lackadaisical approach to life?
Forty-seven years have passed since that historical day when black students mobilised themselves protesting against Afrikaans as a medium of instructions in schools. Forget about #FeesMustFall, June 16 will always be a day that changed the landscape of education and served as a template to the next generations that education is a human right.
It is an indisputable fact that the quality of our education does not augur well with what students should be learning. With 26 public universities in SA and 50 registered public TVET colleges, one would expect graduates to be the change needed in our education system and of our limping economy. But unfortunately, this is not the case, with a huge unemployment rate among graduates.
This is because according to Statistics South Africa, unemployment statistics for first quarter of 2023 grew to 32.9% from 32.7% in the fourth quarter of 2022. Out of those who are unemployed, 48.3% did not have a matric certificate, while 40,7% did matric. Graduates only accounted for 2.7% of unemployed South Africans, while 7.5% had other tertiary education.
The graduate unemployment rate of 10.6% is 22.3 percentage points lower than the national unemployment rate. However, unemployment among graduates has skyrocketed over the last decade. Moreover, other tertiary education unemployment has grown to 23.5%, almost doubling since first quarter of 2013’s 11.9%. Through education, it is every student’s dream to change their family situation, but the only thing they are experiencing now unemployment. That dream seems to be fading away.
When the internship programme was introduced, it was meant to provide opportunities for learning outside of academic settings. Graduates were looking forward to participating in the programme, but to many it has proven to be of a failure because after the expiry of the internship contracts, interns are left depressed as they cannot be absorbed into the workplace.
The solution for this depressing situation is for companies and the government to find mechanisms to integrate these cohorts permanently into the workplace.
I never thought it would be a struggle to get in-service training or an apprenticeship for one to graduate at varsity. Growing up, one of my former teachers once told us that if we pass matric, companies will be knocking on our doors to employ us, but I am shocked to learn that most of my former classmates are knocking on those companies’ doors looking for employment. Graduates have grown despondent while unscrupulous people have found a niche in the market to scam desperate and vulnerable graduates.
June 16 can no longer be used as political rhetoric laced with empty promises by politicians, while people can also stop using the day as a jamboree of binge drinking, turning the day into a mockery of what the 1976 heroes fought for.
It should be celebrated as an educational day with promises of free education and the creation of jobs. If we do not pin those in power in the corner to turn this day into an educative one, history books will archive us as the generation that took the baton of 1976 into a different direction, and the one that did not heed their call to Nineveh.
• Mogotlane is a Sowetan reader
MADIMETJA MOGOTLANE | Facts point to worsening of youth plight since 1976
What happened to the current generation that was supposed to take the June 16 1976 baton forward?
Image: Phill Magakoe
There is a trending video of a young boy playing a game of relay with his friends. In the video, the boy is seen taking a relay baton from his teammate. Instead of taking it forward to win the race, he is seen running in the wrong direction.
Similarly, when God called Jonah one day and told him to go preach in Nineveh because the people were very wicked, Jonah wanted nothing to do with it and fled in the opposite direction to Tarshish.
The story of Jonah is relatable to the story of June 16 1976 versus what is happening now, but with a little stark contrast.
As we reflect to the day, we need to ask ourselves what happened to the current generation that was supposed to take the June 16 baton forward and take the country to Nineveh, where the 1976 students wanted to go. If we are to blame, should the blame be on students’ lackadaisical approach to life?
Forty-seven years have passed since that historical day when black students mobilised themselves protesting against Afrikaans as a medium of instructions in schools. Forget about #FeesMustFall, June 16 will always be a day that changed the landscape of education and served as a template to the next generations that education is a human right.
It is an indisputable fact that the quality of our education does not augur well with what students should be learning. With 26 public universities in SA and 50 registered public TVET colleges, one would expect graduates to be the change needed in our education system and of our limping economy. But unfortunately, this is not the case, with a huge unemployment rate among graduates.
This is because according to Statistics South Africa, unemployment statistics for first quarter of 2023 grew to 32.9% from 32.7% in the fourth quarter of 2022. Out of those who are unemployed, 48.3% did not have a matric certificate, while 40,7% did matric. Graduates only accounted for 2.7% of unemployed South Africans, while 7.5% had other tertiary education.
The graduate unemployment rate of 10.6% is 22.3 percentage points lower than the national unemployment rate. However, unemployment among graduates has skyrocketed over the last decade. Moreover, other tertiary education unemployment has grown to 23.5%, almost doubling since first quarter of 2013’s 11.9%. Through education, it is every student’s dream to change their family situation, but the only thing they are experiencing now unemployment. That dream seems to be fading away.
When the internship programme was introduced, it was meant to provide opportunities for learning outside of academic settings. Graduates were looking forward to participating in the programme, but to many it has proven to be of a failure because after the expiry of the internship contracts, interns are left depressed as they cannot be absorbed into the workplace.
The solution for this depressing situation is for companies and the government to find mechanisms to integrate these cohorts permanently into the workplace.
I never thought it would be a struggle to get in-service training or an apprenticeship for one to graduate at varsity. Growing up, one of my former teachers once told us that if we pass matric, companies will be knocking on our doors to employ us, but I am shocked to learn that most of my former classmates are knocking on those companies’ doors looking for employment. Graduates have grown despondent while unscrupulous people have found a niche in the market to scam desperate and vulnerable graduates.
June 16 can no longer be used as political rhetoric laced with empty promises by politicians, while people can also stop using the day as a jamboree of binge drinking, turning the day into a mockery of what the 1976 heroes fought for.
It should be celebrated as an educational day with promises of free education and the creation of jobs. If we do not pin those in power in the corner to turn this day into an educative one, history books will archive us as the generation that took the baton of 1976 into a different direction, and the one that did not heed their call to Nineveh.
• Mogotlane is a Sowetan reader
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