A massive youth jobs push is doubling as a classroom rescue plan, and Cyril Ramaphosa is betting it will chip away at unemployment while lifting school results.
Ramaphosa doubles down on youth jobs
Ramaphosa doubles down on youth jobs
- President Cyril Ramaphosa outlined plans in a 16 February 2026 newsletter.
- He linked youth unemployment to uneven education standards.
- Matric pass rates, he said, have climbed over the decades.
- Gaps remain in township and rural school resources.
- Basic Education Employment Initiative was launched in 2020 under the Presidential Employment Stimulus.
- The programme created over 1.3 million work opportunities.
- Education assistants must hold a matric, and general assistants need a Grade 9.
- The latest phase concluded at the end of 2025.
- Participants receive compulsory safety and financial literacy training.
- Optional modules cover AI fluency and basic coding.
- Skills target the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
- Stipends and experience improve long-term job prospects.
- Assistants are placed in 19 000 no fee primary schools.
- Many focus on numeracy and literacy as Reading Champions.
- Teachers report more time for lesson preparation.
- Surveys reflect over 93 percent satisfaction from schools.
- Bana Pele's drive formalises more Early Childhood Development centres.
- Registered sites receive R24 per child daily subsidy.
- Department of Trade, Industry and Competition backs 1 000 centres.
- Social Employment Fund reaches over 50 000 children nationwide.
