Boost career counselling to tackle youth unemployment, student body says

National African Students’ Association (Nasa) says schools should offer more career counselling to prevent prospective students from choosing the wrong careers.

Nasa representative Du Plessis Sibinda spoke to to Desert FM on Tuesday on the issue of youth unemployment.

“A lot of young people just go out there and grab whatever course they find in the prospectus and just pursue it because they don’t have any career guidance,” he said.

He called on universities to address “overcrowded” courses.

Sibinda said institutions of higher learning are not in touch with the reality of youth unemployment.

“They do not look at what’s happening on the ground. Their focus is more on educating. They don’t really care about the youth agenda.

“I feel like especially private institutions should look at which of the courses align with what is happening on the ground,” he said.

Sibinda said the private sector should be more involved in efforts to reduce youth unemployment.

He called for more partnerships between government and private institutions to address the issue.

“I’m unaware of any endeavour by the private sector to reduce unemployment, but for that one, you can also see that they work in terms of the market – what the market sees, the employers and how the market goes,” Sibinda said.

He said mental health is another issue young people are faced with.

“Mental health and unemployment, those are the two major issues that need to be focused on in 2025,” Sibinda said.