By Faith Murithi
Education stakeholders have expressed concern over the high number of students dropping out of institutions of higher learning due to poor career choices.
Egerton University lecturer Dr. David Ondiek confirmed that many students choose courses without understanding what the courses entail and also as a result of pressure from parents.
“In university, no course is considered small or big. The problem is that some parents think when they force their children to do courses like medicine, law or engineering, they are helping the kids. Children should pursue courses of their desires,” advised Dr. Ondiek.
Kenya National Parents Association Chairman Nicholas Maiyo, in his recent interview with Education News, attributed the poor career choices to poor career guidance for Form Four students and pressure from parents to do particular courses students have no passion for.
“We have a lot of university drop-outs. Some students who manage to graduate do not put in any efforts in their work because they hate what they do,” said Maiyo.
Maiyo added that career offices need to be introduced in secondary schools and schools with the departments should be fully equipped and functional.
“Teachers organizing a one or two-day career event to equip Form Four students while they are selecting their careers is not enough guidance. Career guidance needs to be incorporated into the learning system from Form One for the 8-4-4 education system, with in-depth exposition about how their KCSE cluster points will determine their courses and careers in the digitalized world,” he said.
Maiyo maintained that Kenya University and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) needs to encourage career literacy among parents and high school students, through introducing career guide initiatives.
“Parents play a key role in the career path of their children hence they should be educated enough for that. There should be a wise and productive counsel where children don’t make unwise choices and are not forced to take courses they don’t want. Parents should give a listening ear to the ambitions, passions and interests of their kids to allow them do whatever courses they want while offering productive guidance. This is only possible if the culture of friendship is created between parents and the children,” said Maiyo.
He noted that 90% of parents don’t relate to their children at personal levels hence they don’t even understand their children’s abilities, talents and interests.
“Students end up listening to friends and what the society and social media is advising because that is what they relate best with,” said Maiyo.
He added that since career days have always existed in the schools and students are making the same mistakes, career mentorship needs to be part of the curriculum not an event.
He advocated for schools and KUCCPS through the Ministry of Education to use Labour Market Information (LMI) to analyze job roles, pay, vacancies and highlight trends exploring what different sectors might look like in the future.
He added that doing so will certainly enable students understand the potential opportunities and challenges within each industry and begin preparing for the world of work.
LMI broadens horizons and promotes social mobility by helping students to identify careers with good prospects that they may not have considered.
A teacher, who sought anonymity, stated that every student and their parents should have access to good quality information about future study options and the labour market opportunities.
“The support of an informed adviser is needed in order to make the best use of available information, which is not available in our schools currently since it’s done eventfully and not occasionally,” stated the teacher.
Mercy Mwenda, a student at Kenyatta University(KU), gives her own experience of how after three years of doing a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, she ended up quitting and starting all over as a Computer Science student.
“I got a B+ after sitting for KCSE in 2016. I was quite confused on what career options to pursue since I just had an overview of what each course entails from learning online about career qualifications and from peers and teachers. I got admitted in KU to pursue a Bachelor degree in Architecture and though it had never been my passion, I did it because it was a posh career as perceived by the society and I qualified for it anyway,” said Mwenda.
She adds that years later, she realized she was getting so drained by the class work and heavy loads of assignments.
“It was a great course but not for me, I was struggling to deliver the best. I realized I had a passion in developing software and working with computers and I eventually muttered the courage to drop architecture and go after my passion,” she adds.
This is just one of the many stories of students who have made the wrong career moves.
In the recently announced KCSE results, 145,145 candidates qualified for admission into public universities after scoring the minimum mean grade of C+ and above.
