Career Preparation of Primary School Pupils in Tanzania

Abstract

This study employed a survey design under quantitative research approach,to explore subject preferences, career aspirations, and sources of careerinformation of 287 primary school pupils. A questionnaire with open-endedand closed questions was employed to collect data. The study found thatout of ten taught subjects, pupils ranked Kiswahili as their most preferredsubject and English as the least preferred subject. In terms of career paths,a total of nine careers were listed for pupils to select the most preferredone. It was revealed that most of the pupils aspired to become medicaldoctors, teachers, soldiers, and engineers. These pupils ' career aspirationsemerged to be gender-stereotyped, with only a few girls showing a keeninterest in science and engineering fields. Moreover, the pupils identifiedtheir parents as the most trusted sources of information on careers. Basedon these findings, career preferences appear to unfold during childhoodwith a range of factors such as parents, teachers and the quality of careerinformation received through socialisation nurturing and shaping thesechoices.Keywords: career aspirations, primary pupils subject preferences,sources of career information.