Mr. and Mrs. Sitali were disappointed that their brilliant son with 5 points was not interested in studying medicine. They hoped he would go to medicine school but the boy was insistent on going abroad to pursue culinary arts. His parents had assured him that if he got 5 points, he could choose the […]

Mr. and Mrs. Sitali were disappointed that their brilliant son with 5 points was not interested in studying medicine. They hoped he would go to medicine school but the boy was insistent on going abroad to pursue culinary arts. His parents had assured him that if he got 5 points, he could choose the university of his choice and they would pay. His parents felt sad and wondered how they would explain to family and friends that their brilliant son was going to study to be a chef. Culinary arts is the creative, scientific, and professional discipline of preparing, cooking, presenting, and serving food. The core elements of culinary arts are;

Technique & Execution: Mastering essential kitchen skills like knife work, heat application, stock and sauce making, and mise en place (organization and preparation).

Food Science: Understanding how heat transforms proteins, how yeast ferments dough, and how acidity or salt changes flavor profiles.

Aesthetics & Plating: Designing meals that engage sight, smell, texture, taste, and sound.

Safety & Sanitation: Managing proper food handling, storage temperatures, and cross-contamination prevention.

It is well known that the role of parents and the family at large is of great importance in the career choices made by their children. Indeed, the first responsibility of educating a child rests with the parents and thereafter, becomes a shared responsibility with the school and the community at large. Parents or guardians are people who know the interests, abilities and personalities of their children and therefore, tend to have particular influence on decisions children make.

A career is considered a major life activity which offers financial self-determination, improves self-esteem and gives feelings of contribution to society. Pursuing a career is an essential factor in gaining independence and achieving social inclusion.

When parents have a great job that provides a comfortable lifestyle, their children see incentives early on that these jobs provide and may favour these careers. But when parents complain about their jobs or struggle to support the family on the income their jobs provides, children are more likely to seek more fulfilling or higher paid roles. The earlier a child is introduced to an interest area, the more time he or she has to explore it and strengthen his or her skills. Some people choose the career simply because by adolescence they have been involved in it so long it feels like second nature. An example can be a parent who is a musician and lets his son play instruments in the band. This child will note that it is enjoyable and also puts food on the table. Another example is a cattle rancher who involves his children on the ranch. The ranchers children will see that ranching is profitable and fulfilling and may end up becoming ranchers as well.

In Zambia, most parents see medicine, engineering and law as the professions which are ideal. When I give lifts to school going children in the morning, I make a deliberate task of asking them on their career paths and most say, “I want to be a lawyer, engineer or a doctor.” I normally ask if they have had breakfast and what their favourite food is. They get excited and talk of t-bone, chicken, ice cream and cookies. The conversation then moves to where their favourite food comes from and we talk of a farmer. Then I ask them of how they would feel eating nshima without “soup” gravy. I remind them every household in Zambia uses tomatoes which a farmer grows, the puffs they eat come from wheat which a farmer grows, the ice-cream comes from milk from a dairy farmer and the chicken is reared by a farmer. Further, I remind them that the lawyer needs to eat, the doctor cannot perform an operation on a hungry stomach neither can the engineer do his work diligently without food and that even their papa, after days of fasting will go back to eat food grown by a farmer and that even the President eats. So at the end of the day, everyone needs a farmer. Sadly, in our society of paved yards, most young people have no idea on how to grow “5 years” a type of resistant kale or how to simply water tomatoes. Most of us grew in homes that had backyard gardens but we are making our children grow up in paved yards with no knowledge of gardening.

Parents play a huge role in the choices children make when they start looking for a career. They influence the level of education or training that their children achieve, the knowledge they have about work and different occupations, the beliefs and attitudes they have to working and the motivation they have to succeed. However, most of this is learned unconsciously especially that children and teenagers absorb the attitudes and expectations of parents as they grow up. Parents’ career guidance is important since they are primary counsellors, as much as teachers, peers and consultants do, if not more, parents play a huge role in drawing a study plan and shaping the career and future of their children. Parents have rich knowledge and experience and can encourage their children to choose a career or subjects that they have understood over their life and know the prospects in depth.

By discussing interests, dreams and goals, parents get to know their children better which helps to guide them properly. Parents can guide by being practical and realistic in their approach and be able to examine and find out whether the interests of the children are genuine and would suit them or are mere aspirations which were influenced by others. It is important for parents to encourage their children to explore their options through work experiences, also by talking to people in occupations that interests them. For example, industrial visits would be helpful in spotting and providing a platform to nurture their talents.

As parents or guardians, we often know the characteristics of our children, we get to know those who are soft hearted, hard hearted. Pushing a child with no empathy to do medicine is a recipe for disaster. Parents can offer career guidance to children by helping them identify the broad area of work that interests them, what sort of environment they would like to work in and then link it to their skills, interests, abilities and values. The idea of pushing our interests onto our children, forcing them to study in areas or fields which we ourselves wish we had studied does not help children in the long run. When someone is involved in a field that they love and enjoy, they will not feel like they are working, it will be stress free. The western world thrives because from a young age, parents and teachers identify what the children thrive in and push them in that direction. Trying to stop a child from becoming a chef because in your eyes and mind, it is a low career, is wrong. Every career is meaningful and important; besides, people pay a lot of money to experience fine dining. And let us stop sending children to join security wings just because their uncle works there. Let the children have interest and want to join on their own. As parents, it is our mandate to encourage self-discovery by helping children explore personal interests, strengths and realistic job options.

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