The Education, Training and Development Practices (ETDP) sector underpins every other industry by shaping the skills pipeline. South Africa faces a chronic shortage of qualified teachers in maths, science, and digital literacy. Meanwhile, thousands of education graduates remain unemployed due to budget and placement constraints.

Key qualifications in demand include teaching degrees with specialisation in STEM fields, adult education certifications, and digital learning design. Shortages in technical and vocational education trainers are also acute, limiting the country’s ability to expand artisan training.

Budget cuts in higher education have triggered retrenchments. One solution lies in redeploying displaced professionals into TVET colleges, community education programs, and online learning platforms. Adult upskilling is another urgent priority: millions of adults remain underemployed or excluded due to lack of digital and numeracy skills.

Globally, education systems are pivoting to lifelong learning models. South Africa needs to follow suit by aligning its training to labour market demands.

Every job begins with education, unless South Africa fixes its education-to-employment pipeline, other sectors will continue to struggle with mismatched skills. Teachers, trainers, and mentors are as vital to growth as any other profession.