Students' Perception of Counselling Core Conditions and its Influence on Utilization of Counselling Services Among Students in Public Secondary Schools in Nairobi City County, Kenya
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Date
2023-07
Authors
Nyandoro, Adolphine Nyaboke
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Counselling in secondary schools is crucial because it helps students reach their full potential. Despite its clear benefits, students in public secondary schools rarely make use of counselling services. While researchers have explored many causes of low utilization of counselling services the influence of students' perception of the counsellors’ core conditions on utilization of counselling services among students has not been adequately addressed. Therefore, this study sought to determine the influence of students' perception of the counsellors’ core conditions on utilization of counselling services among students in public secondary schools in Nairobi City County. The study was founded on the Carl Rogers, Person-centred/Client-centred theory. A descriptive study design was used to guide the study. The target population of the study was 49,707 students in public secondary schools in Nairobi City County. The study involved 413 students and 10 school counsellors from 10 ten public secondary schools located in Nairobi City County. Both probability and non-probability sampling methods were utilized in the study. The ten public secondary schools with functional counselling departments were selected using the proportionate sampling technique, which represented the 87 public secondary schools in the county. The stratified sampling technique was then employed to create strata based on the year of study, including forms two, three and four students from the selected sub-populations. Participants were selected from the identified strata in the selected schools using simple random sampling. A pilot study was conducted among 40students. Data was collected through questionnaires. To test the hypothesis, linear regression was employed. The results indicated that majority of the students (61.4%) had a positive perception of counsellors’ empathy, Results from a linear regression analysis showed that students' impressions of the counsellors 'empathy significantly affected how often they made use of counselling services (=0.167, p=0.002). The findings further established that 70.5% of the students had a positive perception of counsellors’ genuineness indicating a positive significant influence on students ‘utilization of counselling services (β=0.171, p=0.049). 64.3% of the students also had a positive perception of counsellors’ unconditional positive regard indicating a positive significant influence on student's utilization of counselling services (β=0.158, p=0.009). Further findings established that 89.5% of the participants agree that confidentiality should be maintained and 86.2% noted that counsellors should be professionally trained to be more skilled. The study concluded that students need counsellors who can assure them of confidentiality and keep it. The research recommends that policy makers, school administrators and counsellors should put in place measures to ensure that school counsellors acquire counselling skills that enhance professionalism and great ethical practices in schools.
Description
A Research Project Submitted to The School of Law, Art and Social Sciences in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Arts (Counselling Psychology) of Kenyatta University
Keywords
Students' perception, Counselling core conditions, Public secondary schools, Nairobi city county, Kenya