Skills for Employability - Learning - British Council Africa

skills for employability website

	Skills for Employability


	Home > Education & Society > Skills for Employability

Skills for Employability is British Council’s flagship programme for skills development and vocational education. Our cultural relations work around skills and enterprise addresses some of the great global challenges of our time. We use themes of skills and enterprise to promote cultural relations and social and economic development. In doing so, we promote and support skills development and innovation by encouraging closer links between educators, employers and policy makers in the UK and worldwide.

Skills for Employability is unique in the way it creates strong links between education and industry. Our vision is one where employers are fully engaged in skills development and young people have the skills needed, not just to support economic prosperity, but also to tackle future international challenges.

		Skills for Employability in South Africa

Skills for Employability is being piloted in South Africa in 2011 for the rest of the Sub-Saharan Africa region.

British Council South Africa has received a mandate to work with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) on promoting vocational skills development. Paragraph 26 of the Joint Communiqué of the Ninth Meeting of the United Kingdom – South Africa Bilateral Forum 8-9 June 2011 says:

“Ministers recognised the importance of education and skills to the continuing prosperity and development of both their countries. Ministers agreed that the British Council and the South African Department of Higher Education and Training would collaborate on a project to address youth unemployment by developing skills for employability. The project would focus upon organisational links, strategic planning and policy dialogue, and would include a strong international dimension to draw upon best practice from other emerging economies.”

British Council South Africa will work closely with the DHET in order to deliver policy dialogues, workshops and partnerships in the field of Further Education and Training.

The Skills for Employability Enterprise Challenge will be run for the first time in South Africa in 2011. British Council in partnership with Junior Achievement will deliver social innovation workshops at schools around South Africa, where learners will be issued with a challenge in teams of three. The team that sends the best entry from each province will be invited to a national finals event, where the national winning team will be selected.

Updates and dates of future Skills for Employability events will be available soon.