Job satisfaction begins with the course you study after KCSE

After passing my A-level examinations, the Joint Admissions Board unilaterally decided that I should be a teacher. I was dispatched to Kenyatta University to study for a degree in education. Although teaching was not one of my career choices, I had no option but to patiently go through the motions in the university for three years.

After labouring to finish the course, I was posted as a secondary school teacher. I had no passion for teaching. Not that I have anything against teaching, which is a noble profession that I admire for it is the foundation of all other careers, but I had no calling for it and was therefore not my cup of tea.

After enduring my work for three years, I started looking for a way out of the vocation which had been literally shoved down my throat. When an opportunity to study entrepreneurial development knocked on my door, I firmly grabbed it. This presented a chance to retrace my steps and pursue a more fulfilling career. The downside to this was that I was sent packing from my teaching job. But if that was the price I had to pay to attain my dreams, I was ready for it. Indeed, it is in entrepreneurship where my potential blossomed.

My story certainly mirrors that of many students who find themselves in careers not aligned to their ambitions. This is a consequent of the prevailing situation where students choose their careers long before the KSCE results are out. It is time this travesty of justice stopped and our future generations given back their right to choose their life-time engagements.

Before the results are out, students simply grope in the dark as they choose their careers. It is akin to putting the cart before the horse. Exam results are a compass on career direction and without them, students' decisions are based on guesswork.

A recent survey which showed that about 70 per cent of students in public universities are pursuing courses for which they have no passion, underlines the scope of the challenge facing us. What kind of a nation are we building if more than two-thirds of the employed population are doing what they have remote or no interest in?

The impact this has on job motivation and productivity is far-reaching. When extrapolated, this state of affairs has a significant bearing on the overall development of the country. Uninformed career choices lead to retarded development, thanks to incompetence and complacency.

Conversely, wise career choices result in faster development because of enhanced productivity riding on passionate workers. We also have employees unable to hold down a job for a couple of months because they are square pegs in round holes. They hop from one employer to another since job satisfaction is as elusive as a mirage. If they trace the genesis of their woes, they will realise that it all started when they were forced into careers they had no iota of interest in.

Career choice

A career is a life-time engagement and should therefore be given the seriousness it deserves. A career choice determines whether or not you will attain your ultimate aspirations or you will get stuck in the rut of unfulfilled life. The model that private universities use should be replicated in public institutions of higher learning.

Students who join private institutions select their courses after KCSE results are released. They even get ample time to assess and determine their capabilities through professional counselling. This is the trend all over the world. This explains why students who go to private universities do well on the job market.

It’s is therefore appropriate for the newly established Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) to embark on deliberate efforts to rectify this malady which certainly falls within its purview - the co-ordinattion of placement and career developments of students.

Ideally, it should set entry grades for various courses and publicise the universities and colleges where the courses are offered, including the number of available places. It should then give students a free hand to apply for courses and universities they want. Doing this will promote fairness and equity, as well as encourage competition among universities.

Universities and colleges should be compelled to develop market-driven courses to remain relevant in an increasingly competitive word. This will ultimately result in improved quality of higher education. Over to you KUCCPS Chief Executive Officer John Muraguri.

-The writer is the founder and chairman, Mount Kenya University.