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UP principle says bringing down unemployment rate requires a national, coordinated effort

# University of Pretoria vice-chancellor and principal, professor Francis Petersen, says South Africa’s persistently high unemployment rate is a challenge that demands urgent attention from all sectors of society. In 2024, the country recorded the highest unemployment rate 32-percent among all G20 countries. The country recorded a lower unemployment rate for university graduates 8.7-percent in the fourth quarter of last year. Petersen says universities must close the gap between the skills being taught to graduates and those that employers need.