Africa-Press – Eswatini. Eswatini National Skills Audit report has revealed that unemployment is a major challenge for the economy as graduates remain unemployed for more than 10 years.
The report was officially launched yesterday at Hilton Garden Inn by Minister of Labour and Social Security Phila Buthelezi.
The report revealed that the national unemployment rate stands at 33.3 per cent while youth unemployment is at 58.3 per cent.
According to the report, 67 per cent graduates do not have the appropriate skills for job markets and only 33 per cent do. It is stated that the problem is that tertiary institutions do not provide the relevant skills for industry needs.
Minister Buthelezi in his remarks said the audit provide data and information on the skills supplied by higher education institutions and the skills demanded by industry and, therefore, would assist with efficient human resource planning that will address the problems of skills shortages and mismatches.
“Once these shortages and mismatches have been addressed, unemployment, which is at 33.3 per cent, and youth unemployment at 58.3 per cent will hopefully also be addressed through the bridging of this skills gap. This will lead to a higher trajectory of economic growth as more people within the labour force will be able to engage more meaningfully in income generating activities,” the minister said.
He added that the report also helps to identify and efficiently highlight skills in the priority growth sectors, including agriculture and agro-processing, manufacturing, ICT and education, mining and energy, and tourism in the Strategic Roadmap 2019-2022, and this will help create employment and generate wealth for Emaswati.
Buthelezi said skills development was a continuous process, given that the economy is dynamic.
Labour has to make sure that it remains relevant and ready to meet industry demand. He said to achieve this, there was a need to continuously assess the labour market by conducting annual tracer surveys, and skills audit at least every three to five years. “Moreover, it is important to emphasise that the skills issue is not just a ministry of labour and social security problem alone.
we need to involve all stakeholders, especially, the ministry of education and training, the MoICT, the ministry of finance, MEPD, the private sector and other sectors,” the minister explained.
He added that the collaboration with the ministry of education and training in particular was of utmost importance. There is need for the production of relevant labour force that aligns to the needs of the economy to fast-track social and economic development and the higher education institutions can only achieve this through the guidance and directive of the ministry of education and training.
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