Work-integrated learning means the student can start working on real-world problems, while the enterprise they work with gets access to new knowledge, ideas and talent – Dr Mandi Joubert, Eduvos.
You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.
This interview was originally aired on RSG Geldsake in Afrikaans. The transcript below has been translated into English.
**RYK VAN NIEKERK: **One of South Africa’s biggest economic challenges is not merely unemployment, but also a growing skills gap. Young people are desperately seeking employment, but businesses and industries require specialised skills.
A recent article in Engineering News highlighted this, showing that the mining industry is struggling to appoint the geotechnical engineers, research specialists and technical operators that they need.
Dr Mandi Joubert is the chief academic officer at Eduvos. Mandi, welcome to the programme.
There are so many tertiary institutions in South Africa offering excellent education, but why is there still such a massive skills gap in South Africa?
**DR MANDI JOUBERT: **As you say, the gap between what people learn and the skills that employers and the economy require is being discussed more and more. That gap can absolutely widen as we see technology change, as new professions emerge, and as existing jobs change.
One of the challenges we face is that a qualification often gives students the knowledge and an academic foundation, but it doesn’t necessarily give them the practical exposure that employers require.
I think institutions therefore need increasingly to respond to this and ensure that their curriculum tries to address this gap by giving students exposure to the world of work and to the industry at an earlier stage, as well as focusing on the additional skills students will need to deal with in the workplace.
**RYK VAN NIEKERK: **Well, how do tertiary institutions do that – because it must surely be very difficult to get right?
**DR MANDI JOUBERT: **One of the mechanisms that many institutions use – and certainly what we provide at Eduvos – is work-integrated learning.
To put it simply in layperson’s terms, when people talk about work-integrated learning, they often refer to a placement at a company. But it can also be much broader.
We refer here to anything where we purposefully connect what a student learns to the real world of work during their studies.
This can be through an internship, but it can also be through business projects, short micro-internships, consultancy projects, entrepreneurship or simulations. Internationally we are also seeing an expansion of this type of work-integrated learning.
The important part is that students shouldn’t just learn about work; they must have an opportunity to apply their knowledge in an authentic situation – to create something, solve a problem, make a decision and work with others to receive feedback.
Work-integrated learning is one mechanism we can formally build into a curriculum to ensure that all enrolled students get exposure to it during their studies.
**RYK VAN NIEKERK: **Can you give us a practical example of how this works at Eduvos? How would someone get that exposure?
**DR MANDI JOUBERT: **Certainly.
At Eduvos we follow a fairly holistic approach, which means it isn’t just something we tack on at the end of a student’s studies.
Formal workplace placements – the most common type – are well integrated into the majority of our undergraduate qualifications. This typically requires a two-week placement.
Last year, in 2025, more than a thousand of our students completed these types of work-integrated placement across nearly 750 host companies.
However, the approach goes beyond just this formal placement of a student in a work- structured programme.
We also bring industry closer to both our students and our curriculum in various ways.
We do this through guest lecturers, bringing industry experts into our classrooms, through research collaborations – even in industry and student shows, our advisory boards, employer feedback – and by projects and other partnerships.
For us the most important thing is that a student doesn’t encounter the world of work only at the end of their final year, but that this exposure happens right throughout their learning experience.
**RYK VAN NIEKERK: **I assume businesses, companies and enterprises also play a very important role in how you approach this.
DR MANDI JOUBERT: Absolutely. The most important thing is that it must be a dialogue. It’s not just our asking them ‘How many students can you place for us this year?’.
Rather, employers need to look at us as co-developers of our future talent, instead of just being a place where we send students once they finish studying.
This means the question we need to ask them is: ‘What are the problems you are trying to solve? What technology is changing in your business right now?’
And, most importantly for me: ‘What skills are you going to need three or five years from now?’
This means our students can start working on these real-world problems and complex challenges during their studies.
One final point on this – it is also important for us in South Africa that we don’t only think about large corporations.
Traditionally many placements happen at established companies, but we must also make our small businesses, entrepreneurs and the informal economy part of this ecosystem.
A student can add so much value to a small business or informal trader – with finances, business plans, marketing or even digital solutions.
I think that is a win-win situation. The student gains experience, but the enterprise also gets access to new knowledge, ideas and talent.
It turns an educational intervention into an economic one as well.
**RYK VAN NIEKERK: **Have you done any research on how many of your students enter basic employment, or easily find jobs after graduating from Eduvos?
**DR MANDI JOUBERT: **This is something we do annually through research studies, tracking our students after they finally qualify.
Our most recent cohort of students graduated at our May graduation ceremony. Our survey data shows that at the end of July approximately 73% of the students we contacted were already employed in the formal workplace or engaged in further studies.
Naturally there is also a group of students who take a gap year or are not immediately in the labour market; but at this stage at least 73% of the graduating group we could contact are already in the workplace or are pursuing further studies – from our group of students that completed their studies.
**RYK VAN NIEKERK: **So three out of four people easily find work after graduating with you?
**DR MANDI JOUBERT: **At this stage, at a minimum, yes.
**RYK VAN NIEKERK: **That is a high proportion.
We will leave it there. Mandi thank you very much. That was Dr Mandi Joubert, head of academics at Eduvos.
*Brought to you by Eduvos. *
Moneyweb does not endorse any product or service being advertised in sponsored articles on our platform.
