The Government has embarked on preparing a national career guidance and counselling policy aimed to guide the design, development and implementation of Career Guidance and Counselling Programmes to assist university students establish and achieve their education, career and personal goals.
The Principal Secretary (PS) State Department for University Education and Research Amb. Simon Nabukwesi said the Government deemed it necessary to come up with a National Policy on Career guidance and counselling for both private and public universities in Kenya to assist young people in making the right career choices.
Speaking at the opening of a stakeholder’s workshop at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) in Nairobi on Tuesday, the PS noted that there has been a mismatch of training and work due to lack of proper career guidance in the universities.
“The tragedy in Africa is that people do jobs that they don’t like or aren’t trained to do, this has been attributed to poor career selection and planning,” said the PS.
Amb. Nabukwesi said if implemented, the career guidance and counselling policy will aid university students in making right choices that will improve their employability and provide them with a competitive edge.
The PS said young people should make informed choices that match their career path adding that the document will transform the mind-set of the youth.
He added that the policy will assist Kenyans to distinguish their culture, engage in productivity and develop positive thinking that will influence habit.
If implemented the policy will enforce the establishment of career guidance and counselling offices and training programs in the universities.
“Crucial to note are the reforms in the State Department for University Education and Research, which have taken root, albeit disrupted by Covid-19. Since modes of education are evolving, we need to make timely adjustments at the university level to ensure seamless transition in both training and skills development in institutions of higher learning.
We want students to deepen an understanding of themselves through various psychological assessment tools and discussion with the Counsellors and get a glimpse into the world of work,” said Amb. Nabukwesi.
The PS highlighted that in the global arena, it is quite clear that the world is going through tremendous technological advancements led by ICT and socio-economic changes, re-alignment of development partners, and general competition for resources.
This, he added has put the proactive people on a high alert in as far as the acquisition of new knowledge is concerned in order to better fit into the ever-changing job market.
By Joseph Ng’ang’a
