SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS ON THE INFLUENCE OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING SERVICES ON THEIR SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT IN KEIYO NORTH SUB COUNTY, KENYA – International Journal of Research in Education Humanities and Commerce

SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS ON THE INFLUENCE OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING SERVICES ON THEIR SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT IN KEIYO NORTH SUB COUNTY, KENYA

Evelyn Kanus

ABSTRACT

Students in secondary schools have to adjust to the school environment, relationships and demands of life. Therefore, guidance and counselling offer an opportunity through which the above-mentioned adjustment can occur. This paper investigates secondary schools students’ perceptions on how guidance and counselling services influence their social adjustments in selected public secondary schools in Keiyo North Sub County, Kenya. This paper is guided by the social learning theory advanced by Albert Bandura. The target population for the study involved secondary school students. Students from 7 secondary schools out of 21 were included in the sample. The researcher collected data through questionnaires and interviews. Quantitative data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer programme by the use of both descriptive and inferential statistics. Research results showed that more than half of students perceived guidance and counselling services to be helpful in social adjustments. ANOVA statistics showed that there existed a significant difference (p<0.05) in students’ perceptions on the influence of guidance and counselling services on students’ social adjustment. Those who rated guidance and counselling services highly had higher adjustment scores compared to those who rated provision of guidance and counselling as average or low. The study, therefore, recommended that guidance and counselling services need to be regularly provided to students in secondary schools to aid in their social adjustment.

Keywords: Perceptions, Guidance and Counselling, Social, Adjustment

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