DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2019.v07i02.002

Pages: 63-69

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of guidance and counselling in managing student discipline in secondary schools. These findings were based on a study conducted in 2016. The study adopted descriptive survey research design guided by B. F Skinner (1952) and behavioral theory postulated by Krumboltz and Thoresen (1996). The target population included principals/deputy principals and teachers. For getting a representative sample, the researcher stratified the schools into four educational divisions. Stratified proportionate sampling was then used to select 3 secondary schools from each division that participated in the study. This formed 30% of the total number of secondary schools in the sub-county. All the head teachers (12), from the selected schools were purposively sampled for inclusion in the study. Simple random sampling was used to select 30% of teachers from the selected secondary schools. The data was collected using questionnaires, interview schedule and document analysis. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistical techniques such as frequencies and percentages. The analyzed data was presented using a frequency table. The study findings revealed that students in most secondary schools in their respective schools followed school rules and regulations related to student discipline through guidance and counseling. The study concluded that lack of principal’s support in the programme, lack of teachers and students commitment in the Programme are the major threats in managing students’ discipline effectively. These findings imply that principal’s support in the Programme and also teachers’ and students’ commitment to a large extent are important in the effectiveness of the guidance and counseling services. This study recommends that teachers handling guidance and counseling should not be given other responsibilities as those of disciplinary as this could amount to conflict of roles. This may assist students not to