The role of peer counselling training on the students’ perception towards youth developmental challenges in technical institutions in Uasin Gishu county, Kenya

Abstract

In the modern society and fast changing environment in which the young people grow, there is a lack of proper structures to help them cope with their developmental challenges .Peer counseling therefore is becoming an important and integral part of technical institutions educational programme in Kenya. The institutions use peer counseling training as an intervention in changing the perceptions of the students towards the youth developmental challenges. Research has established that people tend to be more open and identify more easily with their peers when dealing with issues affecting them. The significance of the study was to establish the role of peer counseling Training on the students’ perception towards youth developmental challenges. The study was guided by the social learning theory. The study adopted an ex-post facto research design and targeted students in technical institutions in Uasin Gishu County. The target population constituted of 3400 students while the accessible population was 200 students who had undertaken peer counseling training. A sample size of 60 peer counselors was selected. Questionnaires were used to collect the data. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, means and standard variations were used to analyze the data. The findings showed that the peer training played an effective role in influencing the perceptions of the peer counselors towards youth developmental challenges. The peer counselors perceived identity crisis and HIV/AIDS as the major challenges to the youth. The conclusion from the study was That more students should be involved in the peer counseling training to provide more peer counselors to the large student community. It was also recommended that a syllabus on life coping skills be introduced for all the students in the institutions.