Abstract:
The purpose of the study was to a certain whether the 8-4-4 system of education has
had a significant impact on students in making them want to be self-reliant through
establishment of their own business enterprises. With the few employment
opportunities, self-employment has been identified as an alternative to wage
employment.
The study was a descriptive research design which was conducted through
questionnaires personally delivered and collected from the sampled schools. The
survey was conducted on seven out of sixty seven (67) public secondary schools and
the only post-secondary tertiary training Institute in Thika District.
The short time and financial constraints did not allow a wider geographical coverage.
Weather conditions (EI Nino) and inaccessibility of schools forced the researcher to re-
sample the schools.
The findings of the study indicated that students were willing to start up their own
enterprises. Their reason for wanting to be in business was mainly due to lack of
employment opportunities. The 8-4-4 system of education did not play a significant
role.
