{"id":53563,"date":"2020-08-13T08:00:57","date_gmt":"2020-08-13T15:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=53563"},"modified":"2020-08-12T13:11:46","modified_gmt":"2020-08-12T20:11:46","slug":"young-south-africans-are-shut-out-from-work-they-need-a-chance-to-get-digital-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/young-south-africans-are-shut-out-from-work-they-need-a-chance-to-get-digital-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"Young South Africans are shut out from work: they need a chance to get digital skills"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nMost young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in South Africa continue to be denied access to information and communications technology because of poor infrastructure and the digital\u00a0divide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The cost of mobile data is part of the problem. For example, compared with its fellow members of the BRICS group of nations, South Africa has the\u00a0highest average price<\/a>\u00a0for 1GB of mobile data.<\/p>\n

One gigabyte of mobile data costs an average of US$1.01 in Brazil, $0.61 in China, $0.52 in Russia and $0.09 in India. It costs an average of $4.30 in South Africa. As a result, many young people in low-income communities don\u2019t have instant access to the internet.<\/p>\n

This situation is compounded by the lack of uneven technology infrastructure and adequate skills on how to use digital platforms. Though network operators continue to invest in infrastructure to provide quality network coverage, the cost of accessing the internet remains too costly for most citizens.<\/p>\n

People know the importance of having information and communications technology skills and these are critical to their\u00a0daily lives<\/a>. As a result, most families have\u00a0some level<\/a>\u00a0of digital skills and technology in their households. Young people gain much of their digital literacy outside the classroom in an informal context.<\/p>\n

But we found in our\u00a0research<\/a>\u00a0that most job seekers don\u2019t have the skills required to effectively search for employment information on digital platforms.<\/p>\n

The number of South Africans aged between 15 and 24 years who were not in education, employment or training\u00a0was recorded<\/a>\u00a0at 34.1% of this age group (3.5 million) in the first quarter of 2020. When the age cohort was expanded from 15 to 34 years, the number of people in this category increased to 41.7% (20.4 million people)\u00a0during the same period<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Information and communications technology skills are becoming essential in an environment that\u2019s shifting from industry and manufacturing to a knowledge and digital economy. Information and communications technology literacy skills are therefore critical in making young people more employable in the economy.<\/p>\n

Failure to address the implications of digital illiteracy may negatively affect young people who aren\u2019t in education, employment or training. It keeps them from earning a living and contributing to the country\u2019s economic growth.<\/p>\n

The research<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Our\u00a0study<\/a>\u00a0sought to explore how digital literacy skills can advance the lives of people looking for employment. The first phase of the study was carried out in the Gauteng province of South Africa using interviews for primary data collection. The participants comprised of young people who weren\u2019t engaged in any education, employment or any sort of training.<\/p>\n

We found that there are many challenges which prevent people from efficiently using information technology for this purpose. These include the high cost of internet connections and the lack of knowledge about how to use digital platforms.<\/p>\n

We found that looking for employment comes at a cost, so accessing online services was a challenge. Some of the respondents said they couldn\u2019t search for employment by using the internet because they didn\u2019t have access to internet or because they were digitally illiterate.<\/p>\n

We also found that not all young people who aren\u2019t in education, employment or training have sufficient digital skills. Only 56% of the participants had attended some sort of digital literacy skills programme at some stage, while 44% indicated they had not attended any such initiative. Most of people from poor families have no means to unblock the barrier that prevents them from getting training and accessing digital platforms \u2013 and this is often because of the financial cost attached to it.<\/p>\n

What was interesting from the results was that there were young people who hadn\u2019t received any training but had taught themselves to navigate and search for information on jobs, educational and other developmental opportunities on digital platforms. This was because they had access to digital resources. What\u2019s interesting about it is that some of the young people are willing to learn on their own (trial and error) on how to use various online services.<\/p>\n

The results also showed that those who have no access to smart computing devices and internet connection subsequently lacked the skills to search for information on work and development in virtual spaces.<\/p>\n

Going forward<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In a developing country like South Africa, the government must provide supportive structures and policies that prepare young people and enable them to actively participate in the economy. In the South African context, it\u2019s worth highlighting that because of persistent historical inequalities, not everyone has had the same opportunities to access information and communications technology, so solutions need to be tailored.<\/p>\n

Young people need an enabling environment to continuously refine their skills through either formal or informal programmes. The government must provide services for them so they can use skills centres and quality internet connection points. This will assist young people in keeping their skills set relevant to market needs.<\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong> Walter Matli is a Researcher and senior lecturer at Vaal University of Technology<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in South Africa continue to be denied access to information and communications technology because of poor infrastructure and the digital\u00a0divide. The cost of mobile data is part of the problem. For example, compared with its fellow members of the BRICS group of nations, South Africa has the\u00a0highest average price\u00a0for […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":53564,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[32444],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-53563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-higher-education","tag-digital-skills"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nYoung South Africans are shut out from work: they need a chance to get digital skills - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/young-south-africans-are-shut-out-from-work-they-need-a-chance-to-get-digital-skills\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Young South Africans are shut out from work: they need a chance to get digital skills - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Most young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in South Africa continue to be denied access to information and communications technology because of poor infrastructure and the digital\u00a0divide. 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