Young people make up more than half of the world’s population and are widely recognised as a driving force behind innovation and social change. Yet in South Africa, they remain the most excluded from opportunity. Nowhere is this more visible than in the moment after completing the national senior certificate, when academic success too often gives way to uncertainty.

As the world marks International Day of Education under the theme The Power of Youth in Co-Creating Education, the question is not only whether young people are in classrooms, but whether education is truly equipping them to shape their own futures in a digital economy.

In South Africa, that challenge is acute. Thousands of pupils have just celebrated a national senior certificate pass rate of 88%. But for many school-leavers stepping directly into the job market, that achievement does not translate into opportunity. In today’s labour market, passing Grade 12 no longer signals employability by default.

For young people entering immediate job searches, practical and digital skills are no longer optional. They are fast becoming essential requirements in a world of work shaped by technology, automation and skills-based hiring.

At the same time, youth unemployment remains critically high. In Q3 2025, youth unemployment stood at 58.5%, with around one in three young people classified as not in employment, education or training (NEET). For many young South Africans, the gap between passing Grade 12 and building a sustainable future remains wide and difficult to cross.

“Finishing high school is an important milestone, but it is not a guarantee of opportunity,” says Ndileka Stuurman, Business Development Manager at Cisco Networking Academy. “When a third of young people are not in employment, education or training, it’s clear that success cannot be measured by results alone. We need to give young people practical pathways and skills that translate into real jobs.”

For decades, the national senior certificate has been positioned as the first gateway to job-readiness. But as technology becomes standard across almost every workplace, many young people are discovering that a certificate alone no longer opens as many doors as it once did. The world of work has evolved rapidly, and with it, the expectations placed on new entrants.

Digital skills training offers a practical entry point into this new reality. Short courses and industry-recognised certifications allow young people to build employable skills in months rather than years, without needing to meet university entry requirements.

This shift is reflected in employer behaviour. South African recruitment data shows technology vacancies grew by 18% in 2025, driven largely by entry-level roles in IT support, networking, data analysis and cybersecurity. Many of these positions are now filled based on skills rather than degrees and are in demand across sectors from banking and retail to healthcare and logistics.

Meeting this demand requires skills pathways that can operate at national scale. In 2025 alone, the Cisco Networking Academy trained more than 157,000 learners across South Africa, with the majority accessing entry-level digital skills training through 322 affiliated high schools, TVET colleges, universities, community learning centres and libraries across the country.

Learners gained job-ready skills in areas including IT support, networking, AI and AI Infrastructure, and cybersecurity often at little or no cost. Courses such as Introduction to Cybersecurity, Networking Essentials and beginner tracks in Python are designed for learners starting from scratch, enabling them to progress at their own pace while earning industry-aligned digital badges and credentials.

“These pathways are direct routes into real jobs,” Stuurman says. “They give young people momentum when they need it most – especially in that critical period after high school.”

International Day of Education calls on societies to recognise young people not just as beneficiaries of education, but as co-creators of it. In practical terms, that means offering learning pathways that respond to real aspirations and real labour-market demand.

As results dominate headlines, outcomes are often framed as success or failure. But in a modern economy, a single exam should not define a lifetime.

“Formal education still matters,” Stuurman says. “But in a world of rapid change, employability is increasingly shaped by what young people can do, not just what they have passed. Skills-based pathways are helping to turn education into opportunity,” she concludes.