Dr.Ekrah Ndung’u on Career Guidance
The Honorable Chairperson of the Kenya National Association of Private Colleges, KENAPCO, is a strong and ardent believer that your candle can never go out because of lighting up someone else’s. I this strong conviction and mantra, Dr. Ekrah is a believer in empowerment, mentorship and motivation. She always sees the glass as half-full and never half-empty.
She recently joined more than 30 professionals from diverse fields in an ambitious mentorship program at karima Girls. They were stationed in different classes where students would visit depending on their interests.
Dr. Ekrah took the students through In the field of foreign languages.
“Let us mold them and give them at the earliest stage. Let us also give them the career guidance they need. Career guidance is something many people skip over in their pre-teen years, but it’s something that should definitely be in place.
By doing so, not only will your kids be exposed to the environment of an office or cubicle, but they’ll also have someone talking to them about what kind of career they want and how best to achieve it. Career guidance may seem like a tough topic to address with your kids, it should not be. Numerous institutions have implemented a career guidance curriculum for students.
The curriculum usually teaches about the importance of obtaining a job after graduation and how to become a successful professional. The idea behind career guidance is to help students prepare for their future careers by providing them with practical advice on how to prepare for a job interview, analyzing specific duties of the position, identifying job search opportunities, skills required in the workplace, and how to increase their chances of getting hired, etc.
Why is Career Guidance Important?
In today’s world, there are many career options to choose from as compared to the past.
This is because of the availability of better and advanced educational facilities which provide knowledge along with imparting skills for a particular job. Career guidance helps students in choosing careers that suit their interests, aptitude and abilities. It enhances their confidence and empowers them to make decisions regarding the selection of courses after completion of their school education or graduation. Considering this fact, career guidance should be provided to students at a young age i.e., in schools itself so that they can get clarity about what they want to do in life.
Career guidance is a crucial part of helping students to develop in their academic careers. It helps students to decide which subjects they should take up, why they are vital and what is the scope of a particular subject. It also helps in making the right choice of subject in higher studies. Career guidance helps to provide adequate information about different careers and opportunities.
It is necessary that students need a clear understanding of career objectives at an early age so that they can make the right decision for their future.
The importance of career guidance has been clearly proven by many research studies. In fact, it has been shown that students who receive career guidance have a greater likelihood of attaining their goals than those who do not.
One study by the National Center for Education Statistics showed that students who received career guidance before their senior year of high school were more likely to go on to college, get a degree, and be employed at the time of graduation than those who did not.
Objectives of Career Guidance
The importance of career guidance is beyond question. Career guidance offers counselors the opportunity to help students face the challenges of their professional lives with self-confidence and security. The objectives of career guidance are to:
• One major objective of career guidance is to help students find careers that will fulfill them. Another objective is to help students develop the skills needed to succeed in those careers later in life.
• Assist students in obtaining the necessary skills and knowledge to develop their careers;
• Help students consider their own interests, abilities, and goals;
• Develop a course of action for achieving those goals;
• Equip counselors with the appropriate tools to assist students in making informed decisions about their future.
To achieve these objectives, it is important that schools provide adequate career guidance services. It is also essential that school counselors receive training in how to use career guidance techniques.” Dr, Ekrah concludes
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