The Adequacy In Training And Performance Of Secondary School Counsellors (A Case Study Of Kitui District) Kenya

ABSTRACT

Kenya is facing an increasing demand regarding quality of guidance and

counseling programmes for secondary school counselors, counseling has

been de emphasized and priority mainly given to better academic grades

for students.

The secondary school counselors seems in adequately trained to meet the

emerging students needs. This is evident with increasing report of

indiscipline and unrest among secondary school students especially the

month of June/July some many schools were closed early. Many

students were involved in serious school riots, cases of student dying for

example upper hill secondary school or dormitories burnt down for

example in st. Angelas in Kitui district (24/8/2008)

The guidance and counseling teachers are either appointees of the

teachers service commission, board of governor or school sponsors, most

of these counselors to some extent are ill equipped to meet students

needs either educational, social and physical needs. They also face

challenges in performing their task like heavy teaching load, and

uncooperative school administrators who are ignorant about counseling.

This study sought to establish challenges faced by secondary school

counselors in Kitui district, and to what extent are they adequately

trained in performing their counseling tasks.

The study was to bring to open the status of secondary school counselors

in regard to challenges they face because of inadequate training. This

was awakening call for the ministry of education to formulate a clear

policy on guidance and counseling program for secondary school

counselors. In order to understand the status of the secondary school

~seior a aescrmtlve study was used. A samole was taken from the

thirty six counselors each from the thirty six secondary schools in Kitui

district. This study used a questionnaire as means of colleting data. The

data was analyzed by descriptive statistics by use of tables, the charts

pie charts and frequency tables.

Findings from the study revealed that secondary school counselors are

inadequately trained and faces a number of challenges which needs to be

addressed.

Recommendations arising from this study are that; the ministry of

education was to harmonize the training of teacher-counselors and only

trained teacher-counselors should be posted in schools as counselors.