Teachers have been urged to train their students on psychosocial skills that will enable them work well with others as career people anywhere.
Dr Pheristers Kefa of Kereri Girls School singled out strategic thinking, negation, emotional intelligence, innovation and resilience as some of the areas that equip learners with survival skills in the ever changing world.
She said that when learners are critical thinkers, they are able to gather and analyze facts and use their observation to make sound judgments.
“Let us train our students, involving them in activities that bring out their personal experiences and perceptions instead of allowing them operate like mere machines without brains,” she said.
She was speaking to guidance and counselling and career departments from schools on the skills that most employers require from job seekers.
She regretted that many high schools, colleges and universities keep on producing many graduates every year without identifying the gaps in human resource and equip the learners with relevant skills.
She lauded the government for introducing the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) that identifies the learner’s talent early, then sets out to guide them in their career paths.
She asked learners to avoid being selective in their pursuit of employment but instead take short courses in other fields outside their career paths to enable them work in any place while they wait for employment of their choice.
“Ask any top manager in great companies and they will tell you they started as junior office messengers in the companies and rose up after equipping themselves with training,” she said.
On those who are on jobs like teaching and banking, she asked them to be innovative in order to attract favour from their employers.
“Even if you feel that you do not have anything unique or valuable to bring to the table, aim to stretch yourself everyday by considering different approaches that can add value to your career,” she advised.
The scholar asked teachers to pursue further studies to advance in their areas of specialization or shift to other careers to empower themselves with bargaining ability in the global job market.
By Enock Okong’o
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