Ga-Rankuwa secondary school students' awareness of career counselling and factors influencing career choices
Letlape, Tabea Mmasebedise
The fundamental aim of education is to empower learners to succeed in their career path and,
as such, the future of South African learners depends on the quality of decisions and the
progress made by them in respect of their personal and career development needs. The focus
of the study was on investigating the awareness of guidance and counselling in Ga-Rankuwa
secondary schools, and explore factors influencing career choice. The total number of
secondary schools that participated in the study were seven (7), and all public schools from
the disadvantaged context, in the Tshwane West Education District. The study was a descriptive
survey, and the target population consisted of 859 participants. The data were collected, using
two questionnaires; namely the Career Development Questionnaire (CDQ), and the Selfstructured Questionnaire (SSQ). The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used
to generate data, which were used as descriptive statistics of frequency table, percentages and
cross-tabulation to “raise awareness on the status of career guidance and counselling in GaRankuwa secondary schools”
The findings of the study showed that career guidance and counselling was not effectively
implemented in schools, and that inadequate career education was offered to learners during
Life Orientation classes. From the findings, it was discovered that learners did not have the
accurate, sufficient, informed and practical knowledge to help them make sound career
decisions, and that learners’ levels of career maturity were very low. It was evident from the
findings that age, gender, parents/guardians educational background did not have any
significant influence on learners’ career choices. The researcher, therefore, recommends that
Life-Orientation teachers be exposed to extensive career guidance and be offered training in
career counselling, and that there should be adequate and accessible career guidance and
counselling facilities for learners – and that career guidance strategies and policies should be
reviewed.
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