Global Journal of Management and Business Research, A: Administration and Management, Volume 22 Issue 4

Principals’ Attitudes on Guidance and Counselling Services and Maintenance of Discipline in Secondary Schools of Nyamira County, Kenya Ouru John Nyaegah Abstract- The purpose of this study was to establish principals’ attitudes towards guidance and counselling services and maintenance of discipline in secondary schools. It further sought to establish whether principals’ gender, age, training, teaching and administrative experiences have any effect on their attitudes. Questionnaires, Interview and observation schedules were used to collect data. The researcher used Spearman Brown Prophecy to determine the research instruments’ reliability which 0.95. Split- half method was used to determine the Coefficient of Internal Consistency whose values varied between 0.00 and +1.00. The closer the value was to +1.00, the stronger the congruency measure whose value was 0.9 and above hence were reliable. Two-tailed T-test and One Way analyses of Variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze data whose results showed that 24.4% of the principals were conversant with the objectives of guidance and counselling services. However, they were not conversant with the role of teacher-counsellors working in their schools who they said did not have any formal training. The study recommended that Principals and teachers be trained through regular in-service courses, seminars and workshops. Besides, further research need to be done on causes of unrest and abuse of drugs in schools. Keywords: principal, counsellor, service, assailant, attitude, reliability, design. I. I ntroduction he overall running, control, tone maintenance, the general development of school education and all- round standards in secondary schools is the ultimate responsibility of the principals. They are particularly charged with the responsibility of fostering the right atmosphere for child growth and development as observed by Mbithi (1974). Principals must constantly be in touch with all school activities, whether academic or co-curricular although they may delegate some of their many responsibilities to other members of staff. In essence, Mbithi (1974) further notes that the principal is held responsible in case of the failure of any activity or service in school. According to Rono (2019) and Roeber (1955:26), the Ministry of Education views the school Author: (Ph.D) Lecturer, Department of Educational Management, Policy and Curriculum Studies, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya. e-mail: jnyaega@uonbi.ac.ke principal as a key player in initiating and organizing good guidance and counselling services. They emphasized how important it is for principals to have positive attitudes towards school guidance and counselling by stating that, any service in the school, whether new or old needs the acceptance and leadership of the school administrator. Without his or her approval and continued support, any service will wither on the vine because teachers and students sense and frequently adopt the administrator’s attitude towards it. Principals’ attitudes towards guidance and counselling services in schools significantly influence the attitudes of those others who are involved either as recipients, for example, students or as promoters as in the case of teachers. The principal can produce an atmosphere of cooperative enterprise through the attitude he or she has towards the services. Therefore, principals become role models to be emulated by both teachers and students. Wanjohi (2016) noted that, in secondary schools where the principals had a positive attitude towards guidance and counselling services, for example, Alliance Boys High School, Starehe Boys’ Centre, Mang’u High School, Nairobi School, Lenana High School, among others, there happened to be positive responses from students towards it and therefore, they do not experience alarming cases of students’ indiscipline. II. T he C oncept of G uidance and C ounselling Provision of guidance and counselling services in Kenyan schools was formally started in the 1970s. This was as a result of the (1967) and (1968) careers conference reports which were followed by the establishment of Guidance and Counselling Unit in the Ministry of Education in July, (1971). Before this year (1971), guidance and counselling services in schools mainly concentrated on career guidance which was almost entirely based on the voluntary efforts of teachers who somehow felt motivated to provide it. In secondary schools, guidance and counselling services were T 15 Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XXII Issue IV Version I Year 2022 ( ) A © 2022 Global Journals