Ezulwini – Education and Training Minister Owen Nxumalo has challenged institutions that train teachers to broaden their focus to entrepreneurship, arguing that government cannot employ all graduates entering the teaching profession.
Nxumalo said the country needed to move beyond an education model that largely prepares graduates for formal employment, advocating instead for technical and vocational education and training (TVET) that equips young people to establish their own businesses.
He made the submission during Senate deliberations on the proposed Sebenta National Institute Bill, 2026, following concerns raised by Senator Sigombeni about the difficulties graduates face in securing employment despite completing their studies.
The minister argued that institutions offering teacher-training courses should diversify their programmes to include entrepreneurship, enabling graduates to pursue self-employment rather than wait for vacancies in the teaching service.
He explained that the country could not absorb all teaching graduates into government employment, pointing to the lengthy periods graduates may have to wait before recruitment opportunities become available.
Nxumalo cited Taiwan as an example of a country that had invested heavily in technical and vocational training, urging Eswatini to adopt a similar approach. He argued that graduates should leave training institutions equipped to start businesses, with government helping them identify markets for their products and services.
The minister further proposed that funding from the Regional Development Fund (RDF) be channelled towards TVET, suggesting that the fund could play a greater role in equipping young people with practical skills to generate income.
His submission comes as Eswatini continues to struggle with high unemployment, with the latest labour-force figures showing that approximately one in three economically active people seeking work remain unemployed.
The 2025 Integrated Labour Force Survey, released by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security in June 2026, recorded a national unemployment rate of 33.5%, down from 35.4% in 2023. The employment-to-population ratio also increased from 32.8% to 33.5% over the same period, indicating a modest improvement in the labour market.
Youth unemployment among people aged 15 to 24 declined slightly from 27.1% in 2023 to 26.8% in 2025, according to the International Labour Organization’s analysis of the survey. Despite the improvement, the figures underline the difficulty of creating sufficient employment opportunities for young people entering the labour market.
The survey also identified 21,458 discouraged job-seekers who had stopped looking for employment because they believed opportunities were unavailable, according to findings reported by Independent News.
During the Senate deliberations, Sigombeni questioned how graduates could be expected to secure employment when employers demanded years of experience from applicants who had only recently completed their qualifications.
The senator argued that the government should consider including provisions that would strengthen graduates’ prospects of employment, raising concerns about the growing number of qualified job-seekers competing for limited vacancies.
The concern also extended to the recruitment of foreign workers, with Sigombeni questioning the situation in which local graduates struggle to obtain jobs while employers seek applicants who already possess the required experience.
The exchange exposed a broader challenge facing the education sector: the gap between qualifications obtained through formal education and the requirements of the labour market.
Nxumalo’s response placed entrepreneurship and vocational skills at the centre of the discussion, suggesting that institutions should prepare graduates for economic activity beyond conventional salaried employment.
The proposed use of RDF funding for TVET would seek to connect skills development with the establishment of income-generating businesses. The fund supports development initiatives, particularly projects intended to improve livelihoods and economic activity in communities.
However, directing more resources towards vocational training would also require a clear pathway from training to viable businesses. Graduates would need access to relevant skills, start-up financing, business development support and markets capable of sustaining their enterprises.
Worth noting, the Sebenta National Institute Bill, 2026, seeks to strengthen the institution’s legal status, governance and mandate. Sebenta provides basic literacy, non-formal education and vocational skills training, including opportunities for learners who have not followed conventional educational pathways.
Discussion about this post