Abstract
Skills development and training have a role to play in young people’s transitions to work. It is well established that long periods of disengagement from education and the labour market contribute to long-term psychological scarring for young people. There are important differences in terms of the extent of disengagement between rural and urban youth. Rural youth are likely to be financially disadvantaged. This is compounded by the fact that many lack access to information about available jobs or work experience, which further disadvantages them. This study seeks to address an academic and social gap in the literature on NEET youth in rural areas and their skills training needs. The rationale for this study builds on existing evidence that youth deprivations related to low schooling levels, living conditions, and income poverty shape the transitions of young people. Of particular interest in this study are young people that are not employed or in education and training (NEET) and living in rural areas. The study was informed by the main research question: “From the perspective of 18- to 24-year-old NEET youth located in the rural area of Khohlombeni, what are their post-school skills development and training needs?” The study followed a qualitative research approach and is grounded in an interpretivist paradigm. It also uses the Capability Approach to understand better how young people’s capabilities might be expanded through skills development and training. I used semi-structured interviews and diaries to elicit the voices of young people. I used a purposive sampling strategy for the study. I also obtained informed consent from ten participants and complied with all ethical protocols as per the ethics approval received from the Faculty of Humanities Research Ethics Committee. Data was analysed thematically following an inductive approach. The overarching findings that emerged from the findings are as follows. Firstly, insights into family and community support show that youth in rural areas are vulnerable in dimensions of education, living conditions and their mental health among others. Secondly, factors associated with being NEET shape participants reasons for leaving school. Fourthly, although young people experience hopelessness about their dreams, they still show significant levels of agency in their livelihood creation strategies. Finally, in terms of the skills their skills needs, young people may need to know the paths needed to meet their goals because these remain constrained by what is available to them. The findings have two implications. The first is that there is evidence to show that youth in rural areas need a multifaceted approach to reconnect them to skills training and economic opportunities. Rather than training young people from a job placement outcome alone, skills training programmes should tap into young people’s existing capabilities and address how these are constrained by poverty. The second is that evidence shows that youth employment programmes benefit young people in non-income areas of wellbeing. Focusing on youth poverty at a skills development level centres the voices and capabilities of young people.