Factors influencing implementation of guidance and counseling in public primary schools in Kasarani District, Nairobi county.

Abstract

The Kenyan government realized the importance of guidance and counseling in schools in early 1960s. Since then there has been a guidance and counseling unit in the Ministry of Education whose aim has been to encourage implementation of guidance and counseling in schools. Despite the nine months in service training given to the teachers in 2006, the expected results are not realized as there are still increased reported cases of drugs and substance use and abuse, delinquency, truancy, dropping out of school, sexual abuse and harassment and teenage pregnancies. The implementation of guidance and counseling is further worsened by inadequacy of the required resources such as books, furniture, charts and counseling room among many others. This is more so in public primary schools in Kasarani District where poor implementation of the guidance and counseling programs has led to increasing cases of indiscipline, high absenteeism and deteriorating academic performance. The purpose of this study was to establish the factors influencing implementation of guidance and counseling in public primary schools in Kasarani District, Nairobi County. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population comprised of teachers and students from the twenty two public primary schools in Kasarani District from which 50 teachers were purposefully selected and 50 students selected randomly. Data was collected by the use of semi structured questionnaires. The quantitative data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics while content analysis was used for the qualitative data. The study yielded a 85% response rate. The perceived indicators of implementation of guidance and counseling by the key resources teachers in public primary schools in Kasarani district were identified and assessed as the number of teachers in charge of guidance and counseling services is inadequate, time allocated for guidance and counseling was insufficient, fear by the pupils that the guidance and counseling teachers may not keep their sessions confidential. The study further found that the factors influencing implementation of guidance and counseling services in public primary schools in Kasarani District included inadequate funding and lack of transparency in handling the funding, a weak relationship among Key stakeholders in guidance and counseling programs, absence of coordination and systems support. So far, strategies adopted among these schools towards the effective implementation and sustenance of guidance and counseling programs can therefore be considered weak, owing to the lack of these key resources. The study recommends that the government through the relevant organs such as the ministry of education formulate binding policies that will see the adoption of guidance and counseling policies in public primary schools. Individual schools through the administration also need to take this reality into consideration and leverage the guidance and counseling programs and fully integrate the same into their systems in order to keep the young children in check and boost academic performance, discipline, morality, retention and career choice. The principals in the schools together with the school management should allocate more time and resources to the guidance and counselling programs to enhance their efficiency. This is more so in regard to the counseling venue and provision of key resources.