Determinants of effective guidance and counselling programmes in public secondary schools in Kericho sub-county, Kenya

Abstract

The Kenyan government recognizes guidance and counseling as an essential service that should be given to every student. To demonstrate its seriousness, the government, through the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has officially appointed heads of departments of guidance and counseling in secondary schools to oversee the implementation and proper running of this programme. Effectiveness of this programme has however not been felt as evidenced by common unrest in many schools. Limited research has been done to examine determinants of effective guidance and counseling programmes in public secondary schools in Kenya. The purpose of this study was to investigate the determinants of effective guidance and counseling programmes in public secondary schools in Kericho Sub-County, Kericho County. The objectives of the study were; to investigate the qualifications of teacher counsellors providing guidance and counseling services; establish if materials for guidance and counseling are available, investigate the attitude of teachers towards guidance and counseling services; determine the perception of students on the role of guidance, and counseling programmes in public secondary schools in Kericho Sub-County. The study was based on Carl Rogers Client Centred Therapy. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The study was conducted in Kericho Sub-County in Kericho County, since various schools in the county experienced problems such as school dropouts, strikes, poor relationships among students despite the provision of guidance and counseling services in their schools. The target population was 2000form three students and 60 guidance and counseling teachers. A sample of 200 students and 18 guidance and counseling teachers were selected using stratified and simple random sampling techniques. The instruments for data collection were questionnaires, interviews, observation checklists and document analysis. Permit was granted by the National Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI) Serial No. 12814. Frequency counts and percentages were used to analyse the data. The study established that 50% of teachers have skills to offer guidance and counseling while 60% lacked professional counseling training. It was further established that 90% of the schools lack guidance and counseling resources. The study concluded that most teacher counsellors lack professional training on guidance and counseling and out of those who are not trained in guidance and counseling, only a few attend refresher courses every term, this hinders effective counseling in public secondary schools in Kericho County. The study also concluded that secondary schools do not have enough facilities for guidance and counseling and the rooms for counseling are not in a strategic place, which makes counseling ineffective. Based on the findings, it was recommended that Teachers Service Commission should ensure trained and qualified counsellors for effectiveness head guidance and counseling departments and that the County government and the Ministry of Education should enhance quality assessment of G&C in all secondary schools. The findings of this study may be beneficial to policy makers in the Ministry of Education to see the need for employment of professional counsellors.