| Abstract: | Secondary education in Swaziland has rapidly expanded in the decade or so since independence. Alongside this achievement has been a growing apprehension that the modern sector's capacity to generate employment is not commensurate with the rising number of educated young people leaving secondary school. The emergence of a ‘school leaver problem’ as disenchanted educated youngsters remained unemployed was therefore seen as a real possibility towards the end of the 1970s. Such considerations formed the backcloth to tracer surveys conducted in 1979 which investigated the post-school experience of secondary school leavers who left school in the period 1973–1977.Some aspects of these surveys are discussed in this article which covers the experience of school leavers in finding out about jobs and training, waiting time for jobs, and estimates of unemployment. The occupations entered by school leavers are then assessed in relation to demand projections for educated manpower.These observations reveal that institutional arrangements for transferring school leavers from school to work are embryonic and for a large minority of leavers family and other influentiaal contacts are more important than qualifications in securing a job. For Form 3 Junior Secondary School leavers some credence may be given to the popular impression that unemployment is worsening but Form 5 High School leavers are experiencing little difficulty as yet in finding work. More tentatively it would appear that the marginal additions to the skilled labour force stemming from school leavers are not modifying the occupational structure in line with recent manpower projections. |
