Quality education can open doors to opportunities for the youth!
“I am an alumnus of the NWU and through the years I have watched the university transform and grow. I have seen it giving opportunities to the down-trodden by empowering them to reach their full potential. My commitment is to ensure that our student value proposition continually improves, not only to ensure a diversified and rich student life and experience but also to empower them to reach their dreams and unlock opportunities.” Dr Bismark Tyobeka, Principal and Vice-Chancellor
This #YouthMonth #MyNWU salutes the spirit of the youth. We celebrate their resilience and the impact that they can make in our society. Here we work to create opportunities for them to be the architects of their own futures.
Read the Vice-Chancellor's Youth Day Commemoration
A re-commitment towards partnerships for youth participation and growth
Our country commemorates Youth Day on the 16th of June annually. This year’s commemoration takes place under very challenging and difficult economic conditions. The lingering effects of the pandemic, the ongoing war in Ukraine, and other domestic problems that affect our economic growth have exacerbated our socio-economic problems. Consequently, our country’s unemployment rate continues to increase unabated. According to Statistics South Africa, the unemployment rate in South Africa stands at 34.5%. The situation is much dire for the youth as 63,9% of this percentage include those aged 15-24 years, and 42,1% for those aged 25-34 years.
Despite this grim picture, the higher education sector remains charged with the responsibility to produce qualified and skilled young persons, ready to contribute to the development and growth of our country. This is the goal that we must accomplish. Our students and graduates must contribute meaningfully towards finding solutions for the current and future challenges. Therefore, as the North-West University (NWU), we shall continue to work tirelessly to ensure that our teaching and learning, research and innovation, as well as community engagement programmes remain relevant and responsive to the prevailing circumstances in our country and beyond. We will also continue to explore and establish flagship initiatives that result in strategic partnerships with organisations in the public and private sectors to create and facilitate entrepreneurial and employment opportunities for our graduates. We can learn from our past to create opportunities for the future, and ensure sustainable growth.
Today’s youth face different challenges than the 1976 generation. Although the effects of racial segregation remain a problem in some sectors of our society, there are other pressing problems that affect our communities and in particular the youth. The issues pertaining to unemployment, mental health illnesses, gender-based violence, transformation and redress, diversity and inclusiveness, climate change and environmental sustainability, and economic growth and opportunities are also at the forefront and need solutions from the youth. It is indeed correct as Franz Fanon pointed out that each generation must discover its mission, fulfil it, or betray it. I am confident that our students have full appreciation of these issues and that they can have solutions from which the NWU and the country can benefit. I plan to have engagements with our student leaders in the next few weeks regarding some of the aforementioned issues, and other strategic initiatives that we can improve upon or establish to ensure a conducive student life environment across our campuses and in our communities.
Let me take this opportunity to thank all our stakeholders who continue to play a key role in facilitating our students’ access and success. Let us continue to work together and, on this Youth Day, let us recommit to confront the issues that affect our youth negatively. Let us confront the scourge of GBV, mental health illnesses, substance abuse, and most importantly work with the youth to create opportunities for success.
I look forward to fruitful and solution-oriented engagements with all of you at various forums during the course of my tenure as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the NWU.
Please commemorate Youth Day responsibly.
Dr Bismark Tyobeka
Principal and Vice-Chancellor
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