Molding the Young for Proper Socio-Economic Development: The Case for Vocational Guidance and Counselling in the Secondary School System in Zimbabwe
Maxwell Constantine Chando Musingafi
Zimbabwe Open University: Department of Development Studies, Zimbabwe
Racheal Mafumbate
Zimbabwe Open University; Department of Counselling, Zimbabwe
Keywords: Guidance, Counselling, Socio-economic Development, Vocation, Career, Secondary school
Abstract
In this desktop based paper we argue the case for school based vocational guidance and counselling services in Zimbabwe. We establish that school based vocational guidance and counselling services help students to reflect on their ambitions, interests and abilities. Young people experience problems, especially in their vocational development and eventually leading to a mismatch in the job market world. These include a lack of knowledge of their own aptitudes and interests; a lack of realism; indecision; inflexibility and unwillingness to change; a lack of occupational information; problem-solving skills; and gender stereotypes. Our argument in this paper is that in the modern constantly changing world, students should be helped to seek and use current occupational information, clarify their own values, feelings and attitudes, and relate them to educational and vocational demands. We thus categorize the benefits of guidance and counselling into the following groups: personal-social benefits; scholastic-academic benefits; and career vocational benefits.