Matric results are out … Youth Employment expert weighs in
Media comment from Nkosinathi Mahlangu, Youth Employment Specialist at the Momentum Group
South Africa has reason to celebrate. An 88% matric pass rate – the highest in our history – achieved by the largest matric class the country has ever seen, is no small feat. The announcement by Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube is a testament to the resilience of learners, educators and families who navigated a demanding schooling system under immense pressure.
But celebration without consequence is dangerous.For the Class of 2025, matric is not a finish line; it is a fork in the road. And too often, the direction taken is determined less by merit or effort and more by circumstance.Tertiary education remains the most visible pathway to upward mobility, yet it is out of reach for many. Financial barriers, constrained spaces, and gaps in learning mean that thousands of capable learners will never enter university at all.
Those who are “lucky” enough to make it through find themselves facing high dropout rates driven by funding shortfalls, inadequate support systems, and the reality that many students are expected to contribute to household income long before they are equipped to do so.Beyond education, the labour market offers little relief. Youth unemployment continues to hover at crisis levels, and the economy struggles to absorb first-time job seekers with limited work experience.
As a result, a growing number of young people risk becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training). This is not a reflection of apathy or failure on the part of young South Africans, but rather a systemic breakdown.Being NEET carries long-term consequences: prolonged economic dependency, eroded self-worth, and exclusion from the labour market at precisely the stage when skills, confidence and momentum should be built. The longer young people remain disconnected from opportunity, the harder reintegration becomes.
The transition from matriculation to adulthood is increasingly defined not by potential, but by probability – the probability of accessing funding, securing placement, finding work, or falling through the cracks.Not every learner will follow the university route, nor should they. There is immense value in vocational training, TVET colleges, apprenticeships and entrepreneurship.
But these pathways require intentional investment, credible partnerships with the private sector, and clear routes from training to work. Without targeted, coordinated intervention, the Class of 2025 risks being remembered not for their achievement, but for the statistic they become part of.The real question is this: will we invest in this generation as future contributors to the economy, or will we only count them once opportunity has already passed?
