Grade 9 students all across the country are about to make one of the most important decisions of their lives. The Ministry of Education has scheduled August 24 to September 11 for the selection of career pathways, tracks and subject combinations. The choices they make will determine their placement in senior schools and determine their eligibility for specific tertiary institutions and the direction of their careers.
The elephant in the room is whether these learners, aged 14-15 years, are able and ready to make the right decisions.
Unlike the 8-4-4 system, in which careers were chosen later and depended heavily on the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exam scores, when the students were aged 17-18 years, the new curriculum requires that career exploration begins in junior school and the selection of pathways done in Grade 9.
As a Senior School educator, I saw the 2026 Grade 10 cohort take a long time to settle into their chosen pathways and subject combinations. Learners kept changing from one pathway and combination to another. It was clear that the majority barely knew what they wanted, and had little knowledge about which subject combinations would lead to specific careers. Pressure from their parents was also very evident.
According to the ‘Financial and Social Factors Shaping High School Students Career Choices’ report published in March 2025, 57.2 per cent of students acknowledge that family expectations dictated their career choices. The study focused on how financial compensation, professional prestige and personal development influence career choices.
Another report titled ‘2026 Status of Junior School Education’ by Usawa Agenda stated that a third of learners transitioning from junior school to senior school lack basic literacy skills. This same group of learners are expected by the Basic Education Curriculum Framework to begin exploring their future career pathways.
Aside from literacy levels, the Piagetian Cognitive Theory posits that 14-15-year-olds can think abstractly and understand hypothetical futures, while developmental psychology and local education research indicate that their vocational maturity is still unformed. At this age, they are also highly susceptible to peer pressure, prestige and fantasy.
From a cognitive and developmental point of view, learners this age are generally not fully equipped to make unalterable career pathway decisions on their own. Without proper guidance, they risk falling into the trap of career mismatches. It will be worse if educational institutions choose to operate rigid frameworks that do not allow for learners to change their career pathways.
There is need for solid, student-facing policies and measures that clearly take into consideration learner abilities, and that make room for them to make adjustments as they mature.
While the Kenya Education Management Institute has begun the process of training educators on career guidance, the role of parents should not be forgotten. The Ministry of Education should provide platforms where parents can be sensitised not only about the selection process, but also the effects of their influence – both positive and possibly negative.
And while the universities are preparing for a shift in content and pedagogies to align with competency-based education, let the placement prerequisites be put in place, too, as this will go a long way in guiding learners as they explore future careers.
This is only the second cohort of Grade 9 learners. The time to put stronger structures in place to help them and following cohorts make better decisions about their future is now.
