Evaluating the role of higher education institution in enhancing youth development through community engagement in eThekwini

Abstract

Youth socio-economic development is one of the challenges facing South Africa. Youth are often perceived as problematic in the society due to the challenges including unemployment, school drop outs, drug and alcohol abuse; and unplanned pregnancies. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of community engagement programmes in higher education institutions that promote youth socio-economic development. As young people from a major part of the society, they need to be engaged in empowerment and sustainable activities which will benefit the youth and a society as a whole. The objective of the study is to explore the programmes/projects initiated by higher education institutions at eThekwini region which promote youth socio-economic development through community engagement. The study used qualitative research approach as the study is interested in the depth of human experiences, personal and subjective views of how participants perceive and attach to community engagement youth socio-economic development programmes initiated by higher educations in their economies. The study used purposive sample as the study is only interested in people who are involved in community engagement youth socio-economic development initiatives and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The key findings of the study are that higher education institutions at eThekwini region play a significant role in enhancing youth socio-economic development.