- Parents of Grade 9 learners can now use a new KEMI digital tool to explore suitable Senior School pathways with their children.
- Hillary Muhalya argues that the platform gives families a greater role in decisions traditionally left largely to teachers.
- He says pathway selection should ultimately be a partnership between learners, parents, teachers and career guidance professionals.
Parents of Grade 9 learners no longer have to leave the entire responsibility of discovering a suitable Grade 10 pathway to teachers. A new digital career guidance tool now gives parents an opportunity to sit with their children, explore their interests and discover pathways that could best match their talents, abilities and career aspirations.
The development comes as thousands of Grade 9 learners prepare to transition to Grade 10 under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) system, a stage that will require learners and their families to make important decisions about future areas of study.
Through the Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI) career guidance platform, parents can now access the Discover My Pathway tool. The process is simple: open the platform, answer questions based on what the learner likes, enjoys and is interested in, then search to obtain guidance on pathways that may correspond with those interests.
This means parents can now become active participants in the pathway discovery process instead of waiting for teachers to make recommendations on their behalf.
Parents have a role
The message is particularly important because pathway selection should be a shared responsibility. Teachers have an important professional role in guiding learners, but parents know their children from a different perspective. They see their interests at home, observe their talents, understand their personalities and often know the activities that naturally excite them.
The new digital tool gives families an opportunity to bring that knowledge into the pathway conversation.
A parent can, for example, sit with a Grade 9 learner and discuss the activities the child enjoys most. Does the learner enjoy scientific experiments, technology and practical work? Are they passionate about creative activities, music, drama, communication or languages? Do they demonstrate an interest in business, agriculture, social issues or other areas?
Instead of guessing, parents can use the platform to explore what those interests could mean when the learner moves to Grade 10.
The exercise also provides an opportunity for parents to understand the philosophy behind CBE. The transition to Senior School is not simply about choosing subjects. It is about identifying and developing competencies while giving learners opportunities to pursue areas that correspond with their strengths and aspirations.
For that reason, parents should avoid choosing pathways simply because they are popular, because friends are selecting them or because they believe a particular career carries greater prestige.
A learner who is naturally talented in a particular field may thrive when given the opportunity to develop that ability, while forcing the same learner into a pathway chosen purely because of parental expectations could undermine their motivation and potential.
However, the KEMI tool should be treated as a guidance resource rather than the final authority on pathway selection. Parents and learners should still consult teachers and career guidance personnel and consider the learner’s demonstrated abilities, academic performance, interests, talents, career ambitions, available subject combinations and the Senior Schools offering relevant options.
The most important part of the process is therefore not the computer-generated recommendation but the conversation that follows.
Parents should encourage their children to answer the questions honestly. Learners should not select answers simply because they believe certain careers are prestigious or financially attractive. The objective is to establish what genuinely interests them and where their strengths may lie.
Teachers, meanwhile, should continue playing their professional role by helping learners interpret their abilities, providing career guidance and supporting families through the transition. The availability of the online tool should not be viewed as replacing teachers, but as giving parents another resource to participate more meaningfully in the process.
Ultimately, Grade 10 pathway selection should become a partnership involving the learner, parent, teacher and career guidance professionals.
Start the conversation at home
The era of parents waiting until the last minute and then blaming teachers for every pathway decision should give way to greater parental involvement. Families can now start the conversation at home, explore the learner’s interests and use available digital resources before engaging the school for further guidance.
READ ALSO: 330 Kenyan schools received zero Grade 10 learners; Could they disappear if the crisis persists?
The message to Grade 9 parents is therefore straightforward: stop blaming teachers for decisions you can help shape. Sit with your child, discover what they love, understand what they are good at and begin exploring the pathway that could help turn those abilities into a successful future.
By Hillary Muhalya
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