Education stakeholders, mainly those in the non governmental sector have called for the Department of Education to encourage career guidance at schools.
This comes weeks ahead of when the matric class of 2024 begin their final examination for the year and ready themselves for either further studies or the job market.
Leaders of organisations assisting matric pupils with career guidance, say this was needed especially in public schools.
Dr Sanele Gamede, a career coach and lecturer from the University of Johannesburg, said teachers were playing their but the department should be custodians.
“We respect our government and the Department of Education so everyone would find it easier when they lead this,” Gamede said.
He said at the beginning of the new year people would be celebrating achieving a 100% pass rate.
“The question would now be what are those children going to do with their lives after matric,” he said.
Gamede said it was important for the pupils to be advised about careers that would make them employable instead of entering those that were already saturated.
Gamede who runs an organisation called Make a Mark Africa Youth has been running the #MatricaUngazibulali Campaign for 5 years now, and the Brood and Grow Mentorship Program.
He said through these programmes they have also realised that there was less investment towards career guidance. He said the teachers were also focused on finishing the curriculum.
National Association of School Governing Bodies Secretary General Matakanye Matakanya said career guidance must be taken seriously.
“Teachers are guiding the pupils about their career choices but it is not enough. You’ll find that some subjects are not encouraged,” he said.
He said subjects like Pure Mathematics were not encouraged and most pupils settled for maths literacy. “They are looking just to get a good pass rate,” he said.
Nonkululeko Nzimande, a founder of the Smart Foundation which offers educational bursaries to underprivileged youth from Umlazi, said schools could collaborate with organisations and institutions that can provide career guidance.
Nzimande said that pupils often don’t get information on available careers.
“The information is usually available at a time when subjects have already been chosen which can be a challenge for the pupils. The information they received is usually theoretical and little to no practical experience on the careers is available,” she said.
Nzimande said schools can get in touch with them regarding their bursary boot camp program, where pupils are taught how to apply for bursaries.