Ezekiel Machogu
Education CS Ezekiel Machogu has said lack of adequate and professional career guidance is to blame for the low transition rates of secondary schools’ students into institutions of higher learning in the country.
Speaking on Friday, during the 2nd National Career Guidance Development Conference at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD).
CS Machogu also noted that the same is also to blame for the skills deficiency currently being witnessed in the country’s labour market, where there is a mismatch between the skills that employers are looking for and the training and experience that school leavers possess.
According to Machogu, many young people in Kenya enter the labour market without adequate skills mainly because they were not exposed to proper and professional career guidance from the primary school to university level.
He noted that the transition rate of secondary school graduates (2022 cohort) to vocational training, technical institutions or universities stood at 32 per cent during the 2023/2024 placement cycle.
Much more ominously, the Economic Survey indicated a transition rate of only 30 percent from secondary to post-secondary education over the last few years leaving a substantial 70 per cent unaccounted for.
Machogu noted that the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms reported weak structures for career guidance in schools, and recommended a review of the frameworks for implementation of career guidance.
“Young people in Kenya face a monumental challenge of employment. Industry reports show that the youth unemployment rate is 67 percent compared to the overall unemployment rate of 12.7 per cent in the country. For a country that has pegged its development on the robust energy of its youth, this picture does not inspire hope,” Machogi stated.
Machogu further mentioned that professional career guidance will assist learners in all stages of transition within CBC from Junior school, Senior school, Colleges, TVETS, Universities unto the world of work school, to tertiary to the world of work.
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