For 26 years, June 16, now called Youth Day, has been associated with the effects of youthful exuberance. The youth of 1976 have a lot to be proud of for their role in dismantling apartheid, but their offspring have less reason to be enthusiastic.
The Youth Development Trust (YDT), an NGO that finds employment for unemployed youth, reports that thousands of matriculants and graduates of tertiary educational institutions enter the saturated job market each year with slim prospects of finding a job. Where there are jobs, many potential recruits find themselves hamstrung by an education system that does not fully equip them for the workplace. They also lack experience and the skills to market themselves properly or to negotiate technological advances.
So the YDT will celebrate Youth Day differently this year.
“We want to move forward from the class of 1976 who fought for freedom. The question now is what do we do with this freedom?
“Many youths are single minded [and believe] they can only enter certain professions, such as being accountants, doctors or musicians. We have invited young people who have made a difference in their societies to show that young people can beat the odds,” says YDT spokesperson Lindiwe Molapo.
An event will be held at the Electric Workshop in Newtown, Johannesburg from 10am on Monday. Instead of the normal political speeches that have come to characterise Youth Day gatherings, Gauteng youngsters will have an opportunity to speak to other young people who have made a success of their lives.
Molapo says young people face many challenges. “The youth of 1976 fought to bring down apartheid, but today’s youth have to battle unemployment, poverty and the scourge of Aids, amongst others.”
Molapo says the June 16 celebrations this year will therefore include career guidance exhibitions, motivational speakers and a mini sports tournament.
“We will open the door for youngsters to engage with [the invited role models], it is for them to use [the opportunity],” she says.
After the formal proceedings, there will be live musical entertainment including maskandi, kwaito, rhythm and blues as well as dance recitals.
“We look around today and see our young people needing help. We want to help them see the future positively, to realise that they have incredible potential and that they need to seize opportunities where there are none. This day is about hope for today and tomorrow,” says YDT chief executive Ntutule Tshenye.
Apart from organising this event, YDT runs a training and placement programme for new graduates in Gauteng, North West and Limpopo. After discovering that most youths do not know what happens in the workplace, the trust developed a “making a connection programme” that teaches recruits entrepreneurial skills and information communication technology.
Molapo says the programme places 75 young people a year in jobs where they can acquire skills. To qualify, candidates must have been unemployed for at least a year, show potential and be younger than 28, she says.