The Mashujaa Day Thematic Week Career Guidance programme begins on Tuesday, October 13, with forums scheduled in several schools across the county to help learners make informed decisions about university and college courses.
The first forum will be held at Liter Girls Secondary School from 10am, bringing together learners from St Paul Kapkondot Girls and Ismael Chelanga Secondary School.
A second career fair is scheduled for 2pm at Karena Day Secondary School, with learners from Kapkondot Secondary School and Kerio Valley Boys expected to attend.
“Join us for guidance on career choices, university and college placement and opportunities available to learners transitioning to higher education and training,” KUCCPS said in a notice.
The exercise comes amid concerns over the alignment of university training with Kenya’s labour market needs, following findings by the Commission for University Education (CUE) that graduate numbers in several science and technical disciplines declined in 2025.
The CUE University Statistics Report 2025 shows that 37,817 graduates, representing 30.3 per cent of the 124,912 graduates recorded during the year, were in Education.
In contrast, graduates in Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics fell from 11,019 in 2024 to 9,097 in 2025, while their share of total graduates dropped from 8.9 per cent to 7.3 per cent.
Engineering, Manufacturing and Production graduates declined from 7,023 to 6,401, while those in Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and Veterinary fell from 2,937 to 2,741.
Combined, the three fields recorded 2,740 fewer graduates in 2025 than in the previous year.
CUE warned that the shift towards service-orientated disciplines at the expense of science and applied fields could widen the gap between university qualifications and the technical skills required by the economy.
“With more than one in three graduates now training as a teacher and the applied sciences pipeline eroding faster than it can recover, the system risks a structural mismatch with economic demand,” the commission said.
The findings underscore the importance of career guidance in helping learners assess course options against emerging skills requirements and employment prospects, rather than relying solely on popular choices.
KUCCPS conducts career guidance programmes and outreach forums as part of its statutory mandate to develop career guidance initiatives and help students make informed educational and professional decisions.
During the Elgeyo Marakwet forums, learners, parents and teachers will receive guidance on using the KUCCPS application portal, understanding course cut-off points, accessing government sponsorship and navigating inter-institutional transfers.
Teachers will also be equipped with information to strengthen career mentorship and help parents support learners transitioning to higher education and training.
By taking the forums to county-level schools, KUCCPS aims to widen access to information on available courses and institutions, including for learners in rural and marginalised areas.
The outreach offers an opportunity for students to learn about the changing labour market demands at a time when CUE is calling for targeted measures to protect the country’s technical capacity by strengthening science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines.
