When I was 9 my father would say “Go to school finish, go to the University and get employed” to him then, getting to the university was the ultimate requirement for getting employed. 11 years down the line, I do my research and find out from a local newspaper that it takes more than just a degree to beat unemployment since thousands of graduates are out and busy “tarmacking”.

I feel betrayed realizing that my choice of a degree course has a rare chance of employment and that it probably adds no value to the job market. I find myself considering dropping out and just settling for whatever the harsh job market has to offer. However, this consideration is way too costly to bear because of the tens of thousands of hard-earned money my family and village had to raise through “Harambee” in order to bake me for a successful future.

The only thing I have do is to sit down and see if my already acquired knowledge can offer a solution.
I turn on my laptop and browse through a few articles on unemployment. All I see is numbers, statistics of unemployed fellow victims of the system and huge blame on the 8-4-4 system.

The 8-4-4 system of education is portrayed to be the unfavorable chief contributor to this situation of having graduates who are unable to secure jobs because it focuses on academic grades at the expense of molding an all rounded individual being a major pointer. I clearly understand that we recently abandoned it to a new one, 2-6-3-3-3, but that’s going to save the coming generation but what happens to the thousands who are still out and those are finalizing the system.

In August 2018, the Government launched the Office of Career Services (OCS) in all Universities and Tertiary Institutions for developing essential competencies among graduates that will produce the appropriate human capital for industrialization of the region-the skills that will enable society to innovate and foster the type of rapid technological progress that characterizes industrial revolution.

Partnering with this office will for sure give an upward push towards earning as an individual who has been learning
for the better part of their life.

Baraka Isaac

Intern

Office of Career Services