Abstract
Abstract
Youth engagement in productive entrepreneurial activities is critical to the successful implementation of the transformative agenda in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa (SA). To partly achieve this will require an understanding of the needs, challenges and potentials including the entrepreneurial skills acquisitions of youths. A critical skills-shortage is partly responsible for high levels of unemployment in SA. Some young people lack the ‘fit-for-purpose’ competencies to respond to the demands of prospective employers. Furthermore, many graduates lack entrepreneurial skills to facilitate self-employment. A series of studies was conducted to investigate the role of entrepreneurial skills development curricula on student self-employability at the Durban University of Technology (DUT). The research design embraces a quantitative approach with an administered questionnaire to the selected sample. The study used both parametric and non-parametric statistics, with a sample size of n = 127. The target population of the study includes first, second and third-year students who are registered for the Advanced Diploma. In the current study, Entrepreneurial Skills Development is viewed as a multi-dimensional approach towards Entrepreneurship Education. Many respondents agreed that the lecturing staff are well experienced in entrepreneurship and fully aware of the challenges in setting up a business venture. Few agree that the department has provided them with the skillset to identify product or service development opportunities. Moreover, a large proportion of respondents indicated that SA is failing to provide sufficient funding for young entrepreneurs. The ongoing research output will contribute to the field of Entrepreneurial Studies and Management, specifically focusing on Entrepreneurship Supporting Structures that promote Entrepreneurship in a Higher Education context.