Minister for Labour and Social Security Phila Buthelezi says Eswatini must stop measuring skills development by the number of people trained and start measuring it by whether those people are finding jobs.
Speaking on skills development and employment creation at Happy Valley, Buthelezi said the two must be pursued as mutually reinforcing national priorities.
“We must move beyond measuring success by the number of people trained, the number of qualifications awarded or the number of institutions offering programmes,” he said.
“We must also ask whether those trained are finding employment, whether enterprises are becoming more productive, whether workers are earning better livelihoods, whether employers are experiencing fewer skills shortages and whether the economy is becoming more competitive. Our performance measures must increasingly focus on outcomes and impact,” he emphasised.
Buthelezi said this requires stronger coordination between skills development policies, employment policies, industrial development strategies, investment promotion, entrepreneurship support and labour market interventions.
He said findings of employment diagnostics and labour market assessments should inform decisions about which skills to develop, where to invest in training and how to address barriers preventing citizens from accessing employment.
The Minister said public employment services must also be strengthened to connect jobseekers with employers and available opportunities.
He said skills planning cannot be done in isolation from the needs of the economy. Training must respond to what employers require and to where jobs are being created.
According to Buthelezi, the country needs a system that links training to employment outcomes, rather than a system that produces qualifications that do not translate into work.
Equally important, he said, is the recognition of prior learning and the validation of competencies acquired through informal work, practical experience and non-formal training.
Many citizens, he noted, have acquired valuable skills outside formal institutions, but lack formal recognition for those skills. Recognising those competencies would allow them to access employment and further training opportunities.
Buthelezi said the focus on outcomes is critical at a time when unemployment, particularly youth unemployment, remains a major challenge.
He said Government must ensure that investment in skills development results in productive enterprises, better livelihoods for workers, fewer skills shortages for employers and a more competitive economy.
The Minister said coordination across Government and with the private sector will be key to achieving this.
Skills development, employment creation, industrial development and investment promotion must work together if the country is to address unemployment and improve livelihoods, he said.
He added that labour market information must guide training decisions, so that resources are directed to skills that are in demand and to interventions that remove barriers to employment.
Buthelezi said strengthening public employment services is part of that effort, ensuring that jobseekers are not left to navigate the labour market on their own, but are connected to employers and opportunities.
