The research reflected in this volume indicates that in South Africa thereare almost three million youth between the ages of 18 and 24 who arenot in education, training or employment - a situation which points notonly to a grave wastage of talent, but also to the possibility of serioussocial disruption. The authors in this work paint a picture of the enormousreservoir of human talent which exists in the country, but is not providedwith the means to develop.Responding to the Educational Needs of Post-School Youth attempts notonly to sketch the scope and extent of the current post-school educationalcrisis, but also to explore possible solutions through collaboration in thehigher education sector. The findings reported here are a result of threedistinctive but linked research components conducted by the FurtherEducation and Training Institute (University of Western Cape), the Centrefor Higher Education Transformation, and the Southern Africa Labour andDevelopment Research Unit (University of Cape Town). The research wasfunded by the Ford Foundation and the project conducted in consultationwith the Department of Education.