An assessment of teachers' competences in career guidance in selected Schools in Solwezi District Zambia

The purpose of the study was to assess the competences of teachers in Career
Guidance in selected secondary schools of Solwezi District in North Western
province of Zambia. The objectives of the study were; to establish evidence that
teachers were providing Career Guidance to learners, determine knowledge levels of
teachers who provide Career Guidance, establish competences such as; counselling
skills, ability to relate school subjects to careers and employment requirements and
attitude of teachers who provide Career Guidance, assess what motivated teachers to
provide Career Guidance and to find out the extent to which learners were satisfied
with the Career Guidance Services they were receiving in schools. The study
followed a survey design using a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods.
Data was collected from a sample of 133 respondents and participants from seven
Secondary schools disaggregated as; 70 subject teachers, 49 learners, 7 Head
teachers and 7 Guidance teachers. Simple random sampling technique was used to
select subject teachers and learners while Purposive sampling technique was used to
select Head teachers and Guidance teachers. A Questionnaire, Focus Group
Discussion guide and Interview guide were used to collect data from subject
teachers, leaners and Head teachers and Guidance teachers respectively. Quantitative
data were analysed using descriptive statistics using Microsoft Excel while
qualitative data was analysed using thematic analysis. The research findings revealed
that: there was evidence that some teachers were providing Career Guidance to
learners which included Career guidance appearing on the school time table in some
schools, reports on career talks, conferences, and visits to work places. Concerning
knowledge levels subject teachers and some Guidance teachers had less knowledge
in Career guidance as most of them were not trained in Guidance and Counselling.
As regards competence, most teachers did not have much knowledge and skills in
Career guidance as a result they were unable to link some school subjects to careers
and employment. However, love to help learners motivated them to provide Career
Guidance. Some teachers felt it was their duty to help learners to choose, plan and
enter into their chosen careers. Concerning the extent of satisfaction, 53% of the
pupils were not satisfied by the career guidance services they received from their
teachers because they were not able to easily make career choices, prepare for their
career choices and enter them. The study therefore, recommended that Ministry of
General Education should scale up capacity building of teachers in Career Guidance.
Key words: Assessment, Competences, Career Guidance, Subject teachers.