Page 50 - IRMSA Risk Report 2021

3.7

FAILURE TO RECALIBRATE EDUCATION AND SKILLS
DEVELOPMENT

Due to lack of innovation professionals in the education sector, financial inequality including digital divide, and strong
influence by government unions (politics), a risk of the country’s education system failing to recalibrate education and skills
development to deal with a ‘new normal’ may result in worsening numbers of unemployment, a collapsed economy and
increased poverty levels.

SCENARIOS FLAGS SUCCESS STORIES
COUNTRY FLAGS C F
OWNING OUR FUTURE
1. LEADERSHIP The University of South Africa (UNISA) has
always been known for its on-line platform,
1. INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY long before the Covid-19 pandemic.
2. POLITICS As a result, it was seamless for them to
continue with their examinations on-line,
3. SOCIAL COHESION not disregarding some challenges where
students from poor backgrounds may not
4. NATIONAL POLICY have the smart devices to fully participate
5. SERVICE DELIVERY in the exam even after providing some
resources, such as access to the Internet.
6. INEQUALITY
www.unisa.ac.za
7. ECONOMY
PERPETUAL FAKE IT UNTIL WE 8. GLOBAL TRENDS
HANGOVER MAKE IT, OR NOT
9. CLIMATE
C – CURRENT (2020/21) F – FUTURE (2030)

South Africa faces a major risk of worsening the number of unemployed graduates in the country. This is due to the fact that most graduates
are skilled in areas that are either phasing out or are not that in demand. There is a dire need for the education and training institutions to
align their curriculums to both the country’s and the global skills demand, considering the fact that we are in a fourth industrial revolution
(4IR) era. If the private and the public institutions (especially the public institutions, since they cater for the majority of the South African
citizens) do not address and mitigate this risk, graduates will become unemployable and irrelevant. This has been a problem as far back as
2015, when an article was released saying that producing unemployable graduates is seen as waste of time and money. Unfortunately, the
situation is worsening.
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20150319130200274

TOP 5 CHALLENGES TO ACHIEVING TOP 5 RISK TREATMENT OPTIONS AND
TARGETS OPPORTUNITIES
1. Advocacy and published studies on changes and critical
1. Political influence: Negatively impacting on the basic skills demand within the country (extensive knowledge
education curriculum (i.e., unions).
sharing).
2. State of the economy: Poor economy and increasing 2. Provision of access to internet and technology devices to
inequality. the less privileged.
3. Digital divide: Access to technology and innovative 3. Education and training subsidies for the poor.
private institutions.
4. Upskilling of education and training institutions, as well
4. Poor leadership: Unskilled and/or corrupt leadership
entrusted with education and training. as educators, and innovation, including benchmarks with
successful countries.
5. Reposition the TVET system to produce short courses that
5. Misaligned Curricula: Skills mismatched for current meet the need for new functional skills.
vacancies and future jobs.

FACTS AND FIGURES
• 89% of participants stated that their organisation struggles to recruit critically skilled individuals.
• 76% of participants indicated the need to search internationally for these skills will assist the organisation to meet
critical business objectives.
• 79% of participants indicated that the process remains a prohibitor and with only a limited number of companies
managing to avoid the negative impact that the visa application system might have in the business.
• ICT specialists and engineers continue to be one of the most sought-after skills, with 19% and 21% of participants
respectively indicating the same.
• The biggest jump in demand was recorded for artisans, with an increase of 60% from 2017 to 2019.
Source: https://yiba.co.za/the-most-in-demand-skills-in-south-africa-results-from-the-annual-critical-skills-survey/

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