Minister of Higher Education and Training, Nobuhle Nkabane, has called for a comprehensive overhaul of South Africa’s higher education system to address the ongoing disconnect between academic programmes and the country’s economic needs.

During a visit to the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) on Thursday to monitor student registrations, she questioned the relevance of academic offerings and the employability of graduates.

"We need to re-engineer our education system as a country. Are these programmes that we provide in our institutions responding to the economy? Are the graduates we are producing becoming successful? Is the industry willing to absorb the skills we provide? These are the discussions we need to have because we currently have 3.5 million young people who are neither in employment, education, nor training," said Nkabane.

She also challenged academics to take a more proactive role in policy formation, urging intellectuals to contribute beyond mere political commentary.

"We have intellectuals, vice-chancellors, deputy vice-chancellors, and senior professors, but they are not coming on board to help shape policies that address our socio-economic challenges. You can't just be political analysts criticising the government on television. What is your contribution?" she asked.

Nkabane further emphasised the importance of producing graduates who contribute to economic development, instead of merely seeking jobs in a competitive market.

"Why are we producing people who are going to be job seekers in a developing economy? We need graduates who will go out there and participate in the economy," she stated.

The Minister pointed to specific areas of focus, including the just energy transition, hydrogen economy, oceans economy, and renewable energy, as critical sectors where skills are urgently needed.

She concluded by reiterating the government's commitment to tackling corruption in education, particularly in funding allocations.

"We don't want to see anyone looting money meant for our students, the most disadvantaged. We are here to clean the system, and it will not be business as usual," Nkabane said.

THE MERCURY