BY VICTOR OCHIENG’
A career is defined as a job or profession that will enable someone to prosper and make progress in life. It is also a way of turning dreams into reality. Dreams are defined as seedlings of reality. Career encompasses education, training, tutelage, work experience, and involvement in community work. Some reliable and credible sources of knowledge posit that a career is someone’s lifestyle and source of income.
By and large, through pursuit of meaningful careers, people discover and develop themselves. They pursue their purposes and maximise their potential. It is through careers that people fulfil heartfelt demand for skilled labour, solve perplexing problems, and make personal contributions in the society. People who reach the acme of their careers manage to earn a decent living. They find legit ways to create wealth. This entices fulfilment and contentment, which eventually enhances wealth of mental health.
In the distant past, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th US President sagely said, “the best way to predict your future, is to create it.” No wonder, the onus is on schools in helping every learner to have good mental picture of the actual future. It is in schools where students dream, dare and do. It is in schools where they believe, behave, and become.
Schools must first of all separate the department of Guidance and Counselling from Career Counselling. The teacher-counsellors at the helm of the career departments must ensure that students are guided well before they choose subjects at Form Two level. Form Fours must be guided properly before they choose courses and colleges.
It is incumbent upon schools to come up with well-thought-out career counselling programmes that can help student make informed choices. The teacher-counsellors in charge, can decentralise their regal roles by forming formidable teams of Career Representatives (CR) in every class. These CRs can be given weekly roles. They educate other students on many aspects pertaining careers and future world of work.
Let there be frequent career talks and training in schools. Let there be career days. There can also be career weeks. Of course, that does not mean that schools paralyse curriculum implementation for the whole week. Basically, during the career week, schools can set aside one hour per day (4:00-5:00 PM) to talk about careers. That can run from Monday to Friday. Then, Saturday, can be the icing on the cake. Where hosting school extends the olive branch of invitation to other schools to also benefit from knowledgeable facilitators and trainers brought on board. Various universities and colleges, both public and private, fully accredited, can be cordially invited to pitch their tents, and explain the academic programmes they roll out.
It is during such special career fairs that students should know more about study-abroad agencies, the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS), Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). Of course, KUCCPS is the body that places students in universities and colleges. HELB doles out government loans to students at tertiary levels of education.
In schools, teachers concerned should expose learners and widen their world views through subject-based trips and excursions. Job shadowing also serves this prime purpose. It entails exposing learners to places where people are doing things they would want to do when they become of age. It is incumbent upon schools to strengthen clubs, societies and movements. Over and above, schools should not forget to stage talent shows precipitated with high-octane razmataz.
Schools should help students to make better career choices by enriching the library with useful career materials like the Essential Career Guide published by KUCCPS. In case there is an informative article pertaining careers published in the dailies, that part should be carefully incised, and pasted on the school notice boards for students’ ravenous consumption.
It behooves schools to apprise parents on how they can guide their children pertaining careers and future world of work. During AGMs, academic clinics and class conferences, the powers-that-be should ensure that they create special segments for teachers in charge of the career departments to educate parents on their integral roles. It must be made known to parents that they play pivotal roles in career counselling when they cooperate and comply with schools; pay fees and extra levies on time. They play their part well when they take part in active parenting and help their children find good role models and mentors. Parents ascend to their royal roles when they create ample time to confab about careers with their children.
Also, it is important for parents to nurture talents and gifts inherent in their children by encouraging them to pursue worthwhile ambitions and passions. Parents must compel seeds of their wombs to be prone to literate habits, hobbies, rituals and routines. It is one of the seven secrets of enduring wealth of a people as perfectly penned by Steven Silbiger in The Jewish Phenomenon – a well-worded book that explains why the Jews in America are wise and wealthy.
When choosing careers, students must consider factors like knowledge, values, passion, personality, ability, marketability, availability of resources, academic performance, and many more. These factors somehow are not independent, but inter-dependent in nature. In the whole scheme of things, the grade students garner in KCSE determine the programmes they will be poised to pursue at tertiary level.
We have four category of grades which eventually determine whether a student can eventually pursue a certificate, diploma, or degree course. We have top grades (A, A- B+), middle grades (B, B-, C+, C) low grades (C-, D+, C) and lowest grades (D-, E). Students who yearn to pursue Medicine should know that the stakes are sky-high in this area. Such is replete and complete with cut-throat competition. Therefore, the cut-off points in various universities are elusive. That calls for students to leg up their academic performance.
Victor Ochieng’
The writer rolls out career talks and training in schools and colleges. vochieng.90@gmail.com
