Kenyans still equate education with jobs and success

Students write an exam at the University of Nairobi. Rising demand for education in Kenya has seen rapid expansion of universities. FILE  

By Victor Juma

In Summary

• Survey finds that most see a good education as a stepping stone to rewarding careers.
• Career topped the list of what Kenyans think are the key drivers of success, with 40 per cent of the respondents citing it as the number one means of getting ahead.
• Political governance came at the bottom of the 10 success factors with just nine per cent of the 1,800 respondents seeing it as a success factor.

A majority of Kenyans still regard a good education as the surest path to social advancement, according to the findings of a new survey — explaining the national obsession with academic qualifications.

Pollster Consumer Insight found that Kenyans rank formal education as a stepping stone to rewarding careers, which are equated with financial and material success.

The study found that despite the intensity of emotions that politics and elections generate, the majority of Kenyans do not expect the government or elected leaders to make a significant impact on their wellbeing — believing instead that only personal determination makes a difference.

“Despite an apparent obsession with politics, Kenyans do not actually expect it to improve their lives much. Cash is seen as the main means to a good life. How to get it — education, good careers, and hard work,” says the survey report.

Career topped the list of what Kenyans think are the key drivers of success, with 40 per cent of the respondents citing it as the number one means of getting ahead.

Starting and growing a career is closely tied to formal education, which came second with 38 per cent of the respondents saying it plays a role in clearing one’s path to lucrative jobs.

(Read: Kenyan workers pick stability over pay in choice of employers)

Personal drive, cited by 32 per cent of the respondents, is ranked fourth after money (34 per cent), followed by health (27 per cent), intelligence (24 per cent), and professional networks (23 per cent).

Political governance came at the bottom of the 10 success factors with just nine per cent of the 1,800 respondents seeing it as a success factor. Family ties and ethnic identity are also seen as largely irrelevant in influencing one’s social progression and wellbeing.

The research found that long-term financial rewards of formal education are directly linked to the massive investment — in time, school fees, and tuition —that parents make in their children’s education.

This obsession with high academic qualifications has also seen the role of entrepreneurship as an alternative route to financial security and social advancement downplayed, leaving a wide gap in the economy that is occupied by small and informal ventures.

More recently, rising demand for formal education has prompted a rapid expansion of high schools and universities — public and private — raising concern over the quality of education offered.

Enrolment in public universities, for instance, jumped 62.6 per cent to 157,916 students in the 12 months to June 2012 compared to the same period five years earlier.

Private universities nearly doubled their enrolment during that period to 40,344 students despite the acute staffing shortages and scarcity of research funds.

The research also found mass production of graduates whose skills are often at cross-roads with the labour market demands, indicating that academic qualifications alone do not guarantee a stable and lucrative career in an eco

“Our education system and societal attitudes emphasise the idea of people holding jobs. Entrepreneurship is not encouraged and we need to change this to create new ventures and more jobs in the process,” said Robert Bunyi, the CEO of Mavuno Capital.

The more academic qualifications people acquire in the course of their career, the less likely they will be willing to take risks associated with going into private business, Mr Bunyi said.

While accepting that the society generally benefits from a large number of educated

“We have a curious situation where the bulk of entrepreneurs are those with little or no formal education while the better educated are holding or searching for jobs,” he said.

The list of Kenyan entrepreneurs with minimal education includes Gerishon Kirima and Njenga Karume who left empires worth hundreds of millions of shillings.

The realisation that entrepreneurship could help millions improve their lot has recently seen institutions such as Kenyatta University and USIU-Africa shift focus from training people for jobs in favour of entrepreneurship.

Mr Bunyi added that those relying on jobs should mix academic qualifications with experience to develop skills that can help them get promotions and higher pay.

Kenya’s private sector generated only 47,000 jobs in 2011, down from 56,000 the previous year, underlining the country’s bourgeoning job crisis.

Unemployment rate officially stands at 40 per cent but is thought to be much higher, sparking fierce competition for available jobs between experienced workers and fresh graduates. 

(Read: Private sector jobs dip as growth declines to 4.4 pc)

In Kenya, keeping one job in the long term has come under pressure in recent times in the wake of increased layoffs, especially in the private sector.

The quest for education as the gateway to success is, however, unrelenting, forcing employers to raise the entry bar in the various rungs of career advancement. Working Kenyans have responded to this development with mass return to the classroom in pursuit of higher qualifications such as MBAs.

The ever rising demand for higher qualifications has seen university graduates take up jobs like those of security guards that used to be the preserve of the illiterate and primary school-leavers.

The high premium attached to formal education has also had a negative social impact, leading to cheating in examinations and even suicide among students who have scored poor grades.

Some students taking MBA courses have been known to hire researchers and thesis writers to help them with their course work.

nomy that is creating only a limited number of jobs.

In January, a boy committed suicide in Cherangany after he scored 229 marks out of the possible 500 in last year’s KCPE examinations, becoming the latest victim of the demand for high grades.

In 2011, two girls took their lives over ‘poor’ marks in that year’s KCPE examinations.

“Social pressure can drive students to suicide, especially if they have predisposition to be depressed,” said John Gacheru, a counselling psychologist with The Growth Centre.

Mr Gacheru said pressure from parents tend to exaggerate the value of school grades, adding students with average grades have several avenues to success, including arts, sports, and business.

Competition in the high school’s KCSE exams is the fiercest where students with low marks pay a heavy price. Excellent grades (mean grade above B) at that level qualify a student for entry into public universities at highly subsidised fees.

A majority of those who don’t make it to the list of the government-backed Joint Admissions Board (JAB) never go to university owing to the high costs, with fees alone exceeding Sh100,000 annually.