President Jacob Zuma said at the launch of the Solomon Mahlangu Scholarship Fund on Friday that government recognised education as an “apex priority” for the country, adding that his administration viewed education as an instrument of freedom and development and that access to it was considered the “tangible fruits of freedom”.

The President’s comments followed a sitting of the Presidential Youth Indaba on Youth Jobs and Skills earlier this month, which reviewed the progress made towards the implementation of the Youth Employment Accord, signed by youth leaders, business, labour, government and the community sector in April last year.

Zuma said the indaba dedicated a “considerable” amount of time to discussions centred on education, particularly around issues of access and enrolment.

“This confirms that we are united in recognising education as an apex priority for our country. In line with this strategic national focus on education, the core business of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) has, thus, been changed to focus on education and skills development,” he commented.

This repositioning was informed by “numerous” studies, which indicated that most young people in the country derived their income from salaries and remittances rather than through entrepreneurship.

“Therefore, the NYDA’s new intensive focus on education and skills development is in line with the developmental needs of young people. The NYDA will still continue to promote youth enterpreneurship, but this will be a secondary focus,” Zuma outlined.

He added that the establishment of the Solomon Mahlangu Scholarship Fund was in line with this new NYDA approach of prioritising education.

The scholarship, which was established with a seed investment of R10-million, was recently boosted with an additional contribution by the Department of Higher Education, through the National Skills Fund, of R10-million, taking the fund’s total allocation to R20-million.

“This is a good sign. It means this fund is likely to grow even further, providing much-needed support to the youth,” said Zuma.

The fund would provide financial support to youth to enable them to pursue high-quality education in an institution of higher learning, with youth in rural areas the primary target.

Financial support would be provided to youth who pursued full-time degrees that fell within the priority growth sectors and critical and scarce skills areas outlined in the labour planning frameworks of the country.

The scholarship fund was established in honour of Mahlangu, who, at the age of 23, was executed under the apartheid laws after being wrongfully accused of murder and terrorism.

It augmented interventions such as the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, whose budget government increased each year in line with the increase in the number of young people attending higher education institutions in the country.

According to the President, student enrolments at universities had increased by 12% a year while further education and training (FET) college enrolments had increased by 90% a year.

As a result, government had committed to building twelve new FET campuses across the country, mostly in rural areas, and refurbishing two others.

“The National Development Plan envisages an increase in higher education enrolments from 17% in 2012 to 25% by 2030. Indeed, our young people are hungry for education,” Zuma said.