Welcome to Growth in Focus, where business and industry leaders provide valuable insights into their thinking. In an interview with futurist and economist Bronwyn Williams, Alison Jacobson, a co-founder of d-lab, outlines how her organisation is addressing South Africa's skills gap through innovative education approaches that directly impact business competitiveness and economic growth.
d-lab is a non-profit organisation that provides digital workplace readiness skills, including design thinking and AI literacy, to unemployed black youth across the country. Through this hands-on work, Alison has seen firsthand where the education system falls short.
In South Africa, the unemployment rate for youth who completed Grade 12 is 48%, while 80% of 10-year-olds are unable to read for meaning, even in their home language.
She points to three major challenges for South African businesses:
Alison is very clear about what needs to be done: "Our education system does not have a product-market fit. And until we address that, I don't think we're going to be competitive.”
Altron is actively tackling the challenge of product-market fit education through its Ascent and MathU programmes.
Ascent provides financial support, mentorship, and real-world experience in the ICT sector, and offers qualifications through selected universities and training colleges. MathU, however, focuses on all STEM subjects by making quality math education accessible to high school students.
Businesses must develop the skills they want
Alison emphasises that addressing South Africa's skills challenge requires active corporate participation.
She advocates for outcome-based thinking: "We need, as corporate South Africa, in my opinion, to be demanding the outcomes we're looking for, not a pass rate, which is premised on a 30 percent threshold."
Corporations must collaborate with educational institutions to create economically productive individuals rather than just those with a Matric.
South Africans always make a plan
Despite the challenges, Alison remains positive about South Africa's potential.
"The optimistic message for me is that no one's coming to save us and we will save ourselves."