Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi

This paper investigates the effects of the 8-4-4 curriculum, with its emphasis on vocational education, on secondary school students' career and educational aspirations. Specifically, the study examines the extent to which the 8-4-4 curriculum has adequately prepared and oriented students towards self-employment, technical, and farm-related occupations. It also investigates whether the 8-4-4 curriculum has lowered students' educational aspirations. Students' dislike of blue collar occupations and their manifestation of high educational aspirations have been blamed on the earlier curriculum (7-4-2-3) which was said to be too academic. The findings of this study suggest that the 8-4-4 curriculum has neither managed to orient students positively towards self-employment, technical, and farmrelated occupations nor reduced their desire for white collar occupations arid acquisition of post secondary education. The findings also revealed that male secondary school students have higher educational and career aspirations than female students. But when female students are educated in educational institutions of comparable quality to those of male students, they manifest, higher educational and career aspirations than those of their male counterparts. A related finding is that mothers in middle and high socio-economic status have greater influence than fathers on their children's career and educational aspirations.