Why solving ongoing problems with the NQF (National Qualifications Framework) matters -- The challenges unemployment imposes on youth -- The challenge of youth-to-work transitions: an international perspective -- A statistical overview of further education and training colleges -- Strengthening the capacity of FET Colleges to meet the needs of young people -- Higher education and an expanded post-school educational system -- Trends in training in South Africa -- Key issues in the assessment of South Africa's national skills development strategy -- Opening the doors of learning? Viewing the post-school education and training landscape from a youth perspective.

Active political engagement requires the youth of today to begin their journeys now to be leaders of tomorrow. Young individuals are instrumental in providing valuable insight into issues locally as well as on a national and international level. Participation of Young People in Governance Processes in Africa examines the role of young peoples’ involvement in governance processes in Africa and demonstrates how they are engaging in active citizenship. There is an intrinsic value in upholding their right to participate in decisions that affect their daily lives and their communities, and the content within this publication supports this by focusing on topics such as good citizenship, youth empowerment, democratic awareness, political climate, and socio-economic development. It is designed for researchers, academics, policymakers, government officials, and professionals whose interests center on the engagement of youth in active citizenship roles.

While sharing some characteristics with other middle-income countries, South Africa is a country with a unique economic history and distinctive economic features. It is a regional economic powerhouse that plays a significant role, not only in southern Africa and in the continent, but also as a member of BRICS. However, there has been a lack of structural transformation and weak economic growth, and South Africa faces the profound triple challenges of poverty, inequality, and unemployment. Any meaningful debate about economic policies to address these challenges needs to be informed by a deep understanding of historical developments, robust empirical evidence, and rigorous analysis of South Africa's complex economic landscape. This volume seeks to provide a wide-ranging set of original, detailed, and state-of-the-art analytical perspectives that contribute to scientific knowledge as well as to well-informed and productive discourse on the South African economy. While concentrating on the more recent economic issues facing South Africa, the handbook also provides historical and political context. It offers an in-depth examination of strategic issues in the country's key economic sectors, and brings together diverse analytical perspectives.

The dawn of the twenty-first century heralded an apparent change of fortunes for most sub-Saharan African economies, with annual growth averaging over 5% for fifteen years. However, this was not accompanied by structural transformation: poverty, food insecurity, unemployment and inequality persist. Structural transformation has not been - and indeed cannot be - delivered by market forces and neoliberal economic policies; it requires a state committed to development, and to achieving it in a democratic way. To what extent do the countries of Southern Africa exhibit the characteristics of such a ‘developmental state’? What steps, if any, do they need to take in order to become one? The book answers the questions with respect to South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Angola and Malawi. Godfrey Kanyenze and his colleagues have assembled a distinguished team of writers to take the temperature of the regional political economy, and chart a path for its future development.

​This volume overlooks the distinct expressions and awareness of volunteering in the lived reality of people from different regions of the world. By casting the net widely this book not only expands the geographic reach of experiences, models and case studies but also transcends the conventional focus on formal volunteering. It highlights institutional forms of volunteering specific to developing nations and also describes volunteering that is more loosely institutionalized, informal, and a part of solidarity and collective spirit. As a result this book provides a different look at the values, meaning, acts and expressions of volunteering. The chapters in this book consist of essays and case studies that present recent academic research, thinking and practice on volunteering. Working from the premise that volunteering is universal this collection draws on experiences from Latin America, Africa including Egypt, and Asia. This book focuses on developing countries and countries in transition in order to provide a fresh set of experiences and perspectives on volunteering. While developing countries and countries in transition are in the spotlight for this volume, the developed country experience is not ignored. Rather the essays use it as a critical reference point for comparisons, allowing points of convergence, disconnect and intersection to emerge.