South Africa's unemployment rate has shown an upward trend from 36.4% up to 36.6% in the first quarter of 2017 to the fourth quarter and has not shown any improvement in the current year. Youth unemployment is still high in Quarter 1 of 2018 with the unemployment rate amongst young people aged 15-34 being 38,2%. By implication, more than one in every three young people in the labor force did not have a job in the first quarter of 2018. It has also been proven that skills mismatch is an issue for the work force everywhere. Millions of young people are out of school and ready to work, however, companies need skills that these young people do not possess. Contributing factors to this challenge can quickly be identified as the Lack of entrepreneurship and life skills education. While the exact cause of the skills mismatch is difficult to pin down, it can be linked to a combination of the school curriculum neglecting vocational, entrepreneurial and employability training, in favor of more traditional academics.

Learning disabilities are also a significant contributing factor. Poor connections between the private sector and schools to promote training and work experience also contributes, together with a lack of instruction on how to harness life skills most students already have. This is a gap the our education system is currently unable to bridge sufficiently. In essence, the problem is, young people choose incorrect careers due to a lack of self-awareness and identity knowledge. Our education system currently does not have sufficient programmes to address this core issue and to expose learners to the plethora of career choices available to them in line with who they are at primary or high school level already. As a result, when young people find themselves, usually at Tertiary level, they either change study field paths, or if at a professional working level, then there is a change of career altogether.