Abstract:
The increasing number of children with special needs in schools has created the need for guidance and counselling services for children along their developmental stages. Research studies available are concentrated on guidance and counselling programmes in secondary schools. There is need for a similar study in primary schools. The main objective of the study was to investigate the extent to which primary schools are prepared in offering guidance and counselling services in Parklands division-Nairobi Province, Kenya. The study targeted all standard five to seven pupils in both private and public primary schools, head teachers, teachers and teacher counsellors in Parklands Division. A total of 17 primary schools (9 public and 8 private) were selected through systematic random sampling. A random sample of 156 standard five to seven pupils participated in the study. Thirty four teachers, 17 head teachers, and 17 teacher-counsellors took part in the study. Four sets of self administered questionnaire were developed by the researcher for the four categories of respondent. A pilot study was carried out with 7 schools (5 public and 2 private) within the same area but different from the ones selected for the main study. A reliability level of 0.71 was obtained. The validity of each one of the research instruments was established. The study adopted a survey design while the data collected was analyzed and stunmarized through descriptive statistics. A t-test was used to establish the existing differences between private and public primary schools in regard to guidance and counselling. The results from the study show that schools were insufficiently prepared in terms of physical facilities and time allocation. There was no significant difference between private and public primary schools in regard to guidance and counselling programmes. The findings will help create awareness among stake holders about the current state of preparedness and thus facilitate the development of ways for further improvement and support of the programmes. The study recommends that the Ministry of Education takes a centre stage in the organization and implementation of guidance and counselling in Primary schools as it is the case in secondary schools. This will ensure that all schools are prepared well enough to meet the challenges.
