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Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane has published the national youth policy (NYP), outlining some of the interventions the department thinks should be made at South African schools over the next decade (2030).

The policy wants to introduce positive youth development outcomes for young people at local, provincial, and national levels in South Africa.

To achieve this, it proposes interventions at the countrys schools to better prepare students for the working world as well as technological changes brought about by the fourth industrial revolution (4IR).

South Africa needs a skilled labour force to increase economic growth. These skills include engineers, health professionals in different occupational classes to deliver quality healthcare, researchers and innovators to play a critical role in creating new products, and new jobs and new ways of producing existing products cheaply and more efficiently, including the delivery of public services, the department said.

A foundation in education and learning is a significant protective factor against negative outcomes and is essential for young people to reach economic empowerment.

The department noted that the 4IR has major implications on the future of work for South African youth, as well as education systems, employment and industrial policies. It said there are predictions that there will be major disruptions in traditional work structures, and that traditional education systems will be made obsolete.

There is a need to build the 4IR capabilities among youth, in line with the Industrial Internet of Things4IR presents new opportunities. Big data is said to be the new gold or new oil. Data is the key enabler of innovation and development, it said.

To address this, the department said the South African education system needs to be reviewed, to ensure that it produces highly skilled individuals relevant to labour market demands. However, it said that this needs to be done without making rapid changes at a basic education level.

While government has already stated its objectives around introducing more tech-driven subjects at schools with coding and robotics already being tested in the curriculum the NYP expands on the fields and skills it believes should be focused on. These include:

Some of the other specific interventions proposed in the policy include:

Read: Basic income grant and removal of work experience requirements proposed for people under 35 in South Africa

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Quantum computing, drones and 3D printing what South African schools could be teaching by 2030 - BusinessTech