Influence of guidance and counselling of students’ on academic performance in secondary schools in Lamu West Sub County, Lamu County, Kenya

Abstract

In addressing guidance and counseling, development partners and states have put in place regulatory frameworks and justice institutions. In this regard, the legislative framework in Kenya is commendable. What has not received adequate attention, has been tackling the manner in which guidance and counseling is affecting students’ dealings at school. Lamu West Sub County had been affected in academic performance in a number of ways including effects of guidance and counseling, creating a dire consequence on the performance of these learners. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence guidance and counseling on academic performance in secondary schools in Lamu West Sub County. The study was anchored on the psychoanalytic theory and cognitive development theory. The study adopted descriptive survey design. The study targeted 16 principals and 32 guidance and counseling teachers from all the public secondary schools in Lamu West Sub County. Pilot testing and expert judgment were used to ascertain content and construct validity of the research instruments. Census sampling technique was used to sample all the 16 principals and the 32 guidance and counselor teachers from the 16 secondary schools. The guidance and counseling teachers’ questionnaire and principals’ interview guides were employed to collect data. Reliability of the guidance and counseling teachers’ questionnaire was ascertained through the split half technique, where a coefficient of 0.88 was obtained. Data were analysed by both descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, means, standard deviations and percentages were used. The formulated three null hypotheses were tested using multiple regression analysis. The study found that most schools lacked consistent professional guidance and counselling services. Due to lack of effective guidance and counselling services, most of the students were vulnerable to misinformation from different sources. The study three independent variables contributed 73.6 % of variance in pupils’ academic performance (R2 = 0.736). Guidance and counseling in academic issues had the most significant relative contribution to the prediction of pupils’ academic performance (β = 0.529, p < 0.05), followed by guidance in psychosocial issues (β = 0.401, p < 0.05), while career guidance had the least influence (β = 0.282, p > 0.05). The study concluded that most of the counselor teachers rarely get themselves involved in matters concerning their students’ relations at home and which jeopardized students’ academic performance. The study recommended that all the teachers regardless of their school ranking, be engaged in guidance and counseling development workshops and seminars. The knowledge and experience gained from such engagements can be used to uplift their schools and the general students’ welfare. This calls for the TSC to make it mandatory for all teachers to attend and participate in these trainings.