By Anusha Naicker, Regional Programme Director – Africa, EMpower
Alignment of industry needs and skills development
Tourism holds vast potential for entrepreneurship and for employment, due to South Africa’s rich cultural heritage, scenic beauty, and an increasing demand for service-based experiences. Despite this promise, there is often a mismatch between what is taught and the industry’s needs.
Are current skills development programmes meeting the evolving employment landscape in the tourism sector? And are they equipping young people with the full range of technical, digital, and interpersonal skills crucial to thrive in the modern workplace?
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges offer practical, hands-on education that equips learners with the skills needed in the workplace – this is especially critical in tourism. When well-supported, TVETs can be springboards to entrepreneurship, innovation, and job creation. However, this does not always happen, and support is needed to strengthen the skills ecosystem.
Skills development and market needs
South Africa’s vision for inclusive economic growth and social transformation is anchored in skills development. Yet, this vision is marred by persistent issues posed by the broader education system to the millions of young people who are part of it. With only around 60% of learners completing their schooling up to Grade 12, a significant proportion of South African youth drop out early, often without the qualifications or skills needed to participate meaningfully in the economy.
Against this backdrop, TVET colleges emerge as powerful catalysts for change. Far from being an alternative route or a last resort, these colleges serve as engines of opportunity, especially in high-growth sectors like tourism. The key lies in aligning training programmes with what employers seek, ensuring that young people gain qualifications, are prepared to enter the workforce, and find themselves in positions to secure and sustain dignified livelihoods.
What funders can do
Funders, including government departments, philanthropic organisations, and the private sector, must go beyond the funding of training in isolation to deliver real outcomes. Investment should support systemic, long-term change. There are five key areas where funders can make significant impact:
- Bolstering industry partnerships. TVET colleges must work closely with employers to close the gap between learning and employment. Funders can encourage partnerships that lead to real-world work placements, dual training systems, and co-designed curricula that reflect current industry standards.
- Investing in labour market intelligence. Training providers often operate without access to up-to-date data about which skills are in demand. Funders can support the development of regional and sector-specific labour market intelligence systems that inform programme design and track employment outcomes.
- Prioritising quality and completion. Beyond access to training, the quality of learning and completion of training matter. Funders can invest in educator development, learner support, and quality assurance processes that enable more young people to complete their training and emerge with industry-recognised competencies.
- Recognition of prior learning (RPL). Many young people have acquired valuable skills informally, through tourism-related community work or freelance engagements. RPL mechanisms allow these individuals to convert experience into formal qualifications and access structured career paths.
- Supporting an ecosystem approach. Skills development must be viewed within a broader youth empowerment framework. In tourism, this includes supporting not just job readiness but also entrepreneurship, decent work, and access to support services such as finance and mental health. Young people should feel enabled to move confidently between formal and informal economic activities.
What non -profits can do
Non-profit organisations working at the intersection of education, employment, and youth wellbeing have long understood that real empowerment is multifaceted. Their programmes often rest on three interconnected pillars:
- Inclusive learning. Inclusive learning ensures that all young people, especially those from marginalised communities, can access meaningful, relevant education. This includes removing cost, language, location, and discrimination barriers. TVET colleges, supported by NGOs, can create welcoming environments that reflect the realities of South Africa’s diverse youth.
- Access to economic opportunity. Economic opportunity goes beyond basic employment. It includes job quality, fair pay, and pathways for advancement. In tourism, NGOs must ensure their programmes empower young people to move beyond insecure, seasonal work into roles with real prospects.
- Building safe and healthy lives. Tourism work can expose young people, especially women, to exploitation and unsafe environments, which is why skills programmes must include life skills, rights awareness, and access to mental health and legal support. NGOs are well-positioned to deliver this kind of holistic, youth-centred support.
EMpower’s model for holistic investment
EMpower, is a global philanthropy with a long-standing commitment to adolescent and youth development in emerging markets. Focusing on young people, EMpower offers a compelling model of how funders can shift the landscape of youth skills development. Through flexible funding, strong local partnerships, and deep experience in youth-centred programming, EMpower can address systemic barriers and play a catalytic role in reshaping how skills programmes are delivered and experienced by young people, particularly in the tourism and service sectors. In practice, this involves:
- Advancing inclusive learning. Supporting grassroots training providers that work directly in underserved communities. Their approach combines technical and digital skills with interpersonal development and inclusive teaching strategies, ensuring that girls, young people with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ youth are fully included.
- Expanding access to opportunity. Supporting career bootcamps, entrepreneurship programmes, and job-readiness initiatives. Critically, it tracks the quality of employment, not just whether a job was secured.
- Promoting safe and healthy lives. Integrating wellbeing into economic empowerment by requiring grantees to adopt safeguarding policies and gender-responsive programming, funding integrated services including mental health support and sexual reproductive health rights (SRHR) education and creating platforms for youth voice and advocacy.
Towards a just, resilient and thriving economy
South Africa’s future depends on how well it supports its youth and creates avenues for them to achieve well-rounded growth. TVET colleges, when fully aligned with labour market needs and embedded in a broader support ecosystem, have the potential to transform lives, particularly in tourism and service sectors. Investment in holistic initiatives that combine inclusive education, meaningful opportunity, and wellbeing, lay the foundation for a more just, resilient, and thriving economy.
Further Reading
- South African Department of Higher Education and Training – TVET Colleges
- Labour Market Intelligence Partnership
- International Labour Organization – Decent Jobs for Youth
- UNESCO – Education 2030 Framework