The most fundamental reason for education is to empower people to succeed in their quest for a meaningful career path. For that to happen one would imagine that career guidance would be the most important programme in school.
The challenge
Recent statistics released by the Institute of Race Relations show 51% of South Africans between the ages of 15-29 are unemployed: almost half of the youth population.
This percentage consists of many school-leavers with matric and tertiary qualifications. Every year large numbers of young people are passing matric without a clear direction of how they will access employment opportunities after school.
There are various reasons for this problem, with the lack of career guidance in schools the most common.
Our South African public education system provides an inadequate means for career guidance and assessment of individual pupils in school for them to make an informed choice of career.
This weakness results in high unnecessary costs for the country and South African business, as well as social discontent and hardship.
Most young people leave school with only a vague knowledge of career opportunities and with little insight as to the most appropriate career path for their unique abilities, skills, interests and personality.
A large number of school-leavers receive no career training at all beyond school and become virtually unemployable.
And yet, if pointed in the right direction, they could become meaningful citizens, contributing to the growth and well-being of our country.
Those school-leavers who believe that their only chance of future employment, with current unemployment at around 40%, is gaining some qualification, undertake tertiary education, irrespective of their suitability for the subjects chosen.
Little wonder that the drop-out rate for first-year tertiary students in our country stands at 50%.
It is at this point that the first of the wasted costs are incurred, especially by government, and the many organisations and companies giving bursaries to these students.
The next area of wasted costs comes after these school and university-leavers are employed. Research shows that a large proportion of employees feel stuck in their chosen careers.
Not to mention the emotional and financial cost to parents and families of pupils and students who fail to make it in their chosen career studies.
This leads to low morale, disinterest and demotivation, translating into poor performance and bad service levels in the workplace.
In the end, unhappy employees either resign from their jobs or need to be dismissed. In either case, the cost to the business is substantial - recruitment costs, training costs, hidden costs resulting from the poor performance, and the lack of continuity within the business.
In the case of dismissal, there could well be added costs arising from our stringent labour laws. The psychological cost to the employee and his or her family in either case can also be considerable.
The solution
The South African education system needs a structured career guidance programme to be incorporated into its curriculum.
It can comfortably be done by incorporating career guidance into the existing life orientation curriculum.
Career guidance at Grade 8, as undertaken in many first-world countries, would help alleviate much of this hardship and wasted costs. It would also play an important role in reducing the frustration of the high unemployment rate in our country.
Career guidance increases the pupils’ readiness to make informed career choices. Pupils will always do better if they understand how their chosen subjects at school lead to a meaningful career path.
The process of choosing a career is detailed, complex and a very important decision in any young person’s life. It starts with self-knowledge in terms of interests, values, likes, knowing one’s strengths and weaknesses, understanding the economy, etc.
Not all communities and schools have sufficient career guidance services or support and hence year after year young people are choosing “popular” careers or are pushed to careers where there are lower numbers and more bursaries.
Such choices lead to drop-outs, the high failure rate, negative attitudes and ultimately a ruined future - both for the person as well as for our country’s economy.
If we want South Africa to become a winning nation, we must raise champions in every family and every community.
A structured career guidance programme in our education system will go a long way in achieving this much-needed goal.