Primary schools in Kenya have been urged to move beyond the traditional model of waiting until the final years of education to discuss what pupils will do after graduation.
In a report, Amanda Birkenstock, executive principal of Crawford International School, says that forward-looking institutions must introduce career exploration, skills assessment, and digital literacy and subject-pathway guidance much earlier.
This is as the demands of both Kenya’s and the global labour markets change rapidly.
“Schools must pivot toward continuous teacher mentorship and independent execution,” she says, arguing that individual agency and critical analysis can help Kenyan graduates adapt to foreign academic environments.
She adds that the broader lesson is that career preparation is becoming a long-term process rather than a final-year intervention.
Birkenstock argues that schools should avoid reducing preparation to examination performance.
Her views reflect those of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which estimates that 39 per cent of workers’ existing skill sets could be transformed or become outdated between 2025 and 2030.
According to WEF, schools that cultivate curiosity, adaptability, digital capability and critical thinking early are responding to a labour market in which the specific jobs children eventually enter may not yet exist.
The shift comes against a tight domestic employment market.
The 2026 Economic Survey by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that Kenya’s recorded employment rose by 822,100 jobs to 21.6 million in 2025, but 87.2 per cent of the new employment was in the informal sector.
This makes early preparation for a changing economy increasingly important.
The World Bank has similarly warned of a mismatch between the skills young people acquire and those demanded by the labour market.
It says nearly 80 per cent of Kenyans under 35 who are working are in informal, low-quality jobs, while about 85 per cent of youth rely on informal work.
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, based on more than 1,000 employers representing over 14 million workers globally, identifies analytical thinking as the leading core skill sought by employers.
Resilience, flexibility and agility, leadership follows it and social influence, while AI and big data, networks and cybersecurity, technological literacy, creative thinking and lifelong learning are among the fastest-growing skills.
This is strengthening the case for exposing children to such capabilities before they reach the point of choosing careers.
Kenya’s own education reforms recognise the shift.
The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development identifies seven core competencies under the Competency-Based Curriculum.
They include: communication and collaboration, critical thinking and problem solving, creativity and imagination, citizenship, digital literacy, learning to learn and self-efficacy.
The Ministry of Education says the competency-based system is intended to promote critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, innovation and lifelong learning rather than simply transmitting content.
