Perceptions on the role of guidance and counseling in the management of Educational wastage in public Secondary schools in Buuri District, Meru County, Kenya

Abstract

The government of Kenya has greatly emphasized on guidance and counseling in the Gachathi report 1976. As a result, it led to outlawing of corporal punishment as a means of instilling discipline in schools in 2001. Guidance and counseling, besides helping discipline among students, has been known to help students with social, emotional, and psychological problems that lead to poor performance in schools which sometimes contribute to school dropout rates or repetition of classes, resulting to educational wastage. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perception on the law of Guidance and counseling in the management of educational wastage in public secondary schools in Buuri District, Meru County, Kenya. The main objectives of this study were: to establish the head teachers, teacher counselor and students perception of the role of guidance and counseling program, to find out the head teachers, teacher counselors and students perception of the role of guidance and counseling program in the management of drop out and repetition rates and to determine the strategies used by guidance and counseling teachers to curb education wastage among students in different category of public secondary schools in Buuri District. The target population for this study was head teachers, teacher counselors and students. The researcher employed stratified sampling to select 3 boys, 3 girls’ public boarding schools and 4 mixed public day schools totaling to 10 schools . Head teachers and teacher counselors in the selected schools were purposively sampled while simple random sampling was used to select 12 students from each selected school so as to obtain a sample size of 140 respondents. Data was collected by using questionnaires. Instrument content validity was ascertained with the help of the supervisors who are experts in educational management and administration. Test retest technique was used to determine the instruments reliability. Test for internal consistency of the items in the questionnaire was done by employing cronbach Alpha. Reliability coefficients of 0.71, 0.75 and 0.72 were obtained with all the students, teachers and head teachers’ questionnaires. The researcher personally administered the instruments to all the respondents. Descriptive statistics including frequency counts and percentages were used to analyze quantitative data while qualitative data elicited by open ended questions was analyzed qualitatively and discussed thematically. The study established that head teachers, teachers and students had varied perceptions of guidance and counseling services. The study established that the role of guidance and counseling program in managing education wastage was appreciated and respondents felt that it was useful in helping students to develop good study habits, work with determination for success, avoid laziness in school that may lead to poor academic achievement hence class repetition, avoid premarital sex that may lead to pregnancies leading to dropout, and enable them to understand the value of completing assignments in good time. The study recommends more training and exposure to guidance and counseling among head-teachers, teacher counselors and students. Guidance and counseling teachers to have reduced work load so that they have time to deal with the student’s needs that require guidance and counseling. Guidance and counseling programs existing in schools should be reviewed and upgraded to concur with modem concepts and practice of guidance and counseling to cater for the uprising needs in schools that lead to school dropout and repetition. Further research is suggested to establish the role of guidance and counseling program in the management of educational wastage among girls' only or boys' only secondary schools and to establish whether home environment is a cause of educational wastage.