There is an urgent need for career guidance in schools

Rwanda needs strong advocacy on the issue of career guidance in our schools, if we are to achieve both the Vision 2020 and the Millennium Development Goals. Unfortunately, this is lacking, leading students to make wrong choices. The primary goal of everyone is to succeed in life; the problem is that we are not always sure how to go about that. This sense of confusion leads to disillusionment, especially when one cannot achieve what they dearly wanted to. This is often because the person dreams had no bearing to reality. What makes a difference between someone who is disillusioned and someone who isn’t is how they set their goals and work towards achieving them. Let goals differ from ambitions for the two can’t be attained equally. A goal is practical while an ambition is idealistic and wishful. The old adage ‘if wishes were horses, beggars would ride’, shows us a clear demarcation between dreams and reality. Problems arise when all the goals set are not achieved. you become devastated and start seeing the future dying in your hands, yet you’ve have done all that is necessary in life. The cause of this is that, sometimes, we set goals that are unachievable. We become over-ambitious. Self-evaluation is always very crucial when setting our goals and determining our future careers. Imagine as a student you want to be a doctor yet you are not good enough in the science subjects of biology and chemistry. You will have a problem realizing your dream. Your ambition exceeds your ability and in order for you to succeed in life there should be equilibrium between the two aspects. When, for instance, your willingness to be a lawyer exceeds your ability to pass highly you should think of an alternative career where you can excel. Therefore, our students are at crossroads, should they dream according to their wishes or their abilities? The causes of this dilemma start from their parents who want them to become something they are not able to be or are not willing to be. Then there is also lack of career guidance from the institutions they go to and the monetary demands of this world, where career choices are based on how much one can earn not what kind of service he/she will offer to the community. Students should be guided by patriotism and not pleasure. Parents should also learn to listen to their children and discuss with them their future instead of forcing their wishes onto their children. The Ministry of Education should also think of how to include this vital area in the curriculum so that the students know how to select the combinations, in relation to their future careers. Julius Kaboyo is a teacher at Sonrise High School in Musanze. kaboyojules@yahoo.com