Browsing by Author "Nyaga, V.K."

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Effectiveness of Guidance and Counselling Services in Enhancing Students’ Adjustment to School Academic Environment in Public Boarding Secondary Schools.
(Chuka University, 2016) Kanga, B.M.; Ngari, S.M.; Barchok, H.K.; Nyaga, V.K.
School adjustment is the process of coping in a new environment to attain the individual and school’s set goals and aspirations. Stakeholders have expressed the need to strengthen Guidance and Counselling services to enhance students’ adjustment to school environment. Public boarding secondary schools are expected to implement Guidance and Counselling policy of the Ministry of Education. This study investigated the effectiveness of Guidance and Counselling services in enhancing students’ adjustment to school academic environment in public boarding secondary schools in Kenya. It adopted a descriptive research survey design and targeted 36,671 students, comprising 35,659 Form 3 students, 506 Form 3 class teachers, and 506 Guidance and Counseling teachers from boarding secondary schools in Kitui, Nyeri and Nairobi Counties. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 756 respondents, comprising 720 Form 3 students, 18 Form 3 class teachers, and 18 Guidance and Counseling teachers from 18 secondary schools. Questionnaires were used to collect data from Form 3 students and their class teachers, while an interview schedule was used for Guidance and Counseling teachers. Pilot of 76 respondents was done in three public boarding secondary schools in Machakos, Kirinyaga and Thika Counties. Using Spearman Brown Prophesy formula by split half technique, reliability coefficients of 0.745, 0.746 and 0.736 were realized for students, class teachers and Guidance and Counseling teachers, respectively. This was accepted because values over 0.7 are considered suitable for making accurate group inferences. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 17. Guidance and Counseling was effective in helping students adjust to school environment. The issues that need to be addressed in Guidance and Counseling include strengthening individual counseling, training of peer counselors and gender balance in appointment of school counseling personnel to improve services.
Interpersonal Adaptation On Academic Achievement Among Boys and Girls Students in Boarding Secondary Schools in Meru County, Kenya.
(Chuka University, 2017) Nyaga, V.K.; Murithi, G.G
Academic achievement among secondary school students in Kenya is important because this determines future chances for advancement in life in terms of career options, further studies and sociopolitical appointments in the society. Hence, there is need to examine factors that may influence academic achievement among secondary school students in the country for which adaptation in school is key. Consequently, this study sought to examine the impact of interpersonal adaptation on academic achievement among secondary school students with special emphasis on comparing boys and girls in boarding secondary schools in Meru County in Kenya. The study employed the descriptive survey research design on a sample size of 384 students, school counsellors and deputy principals in boarding secondary schools in Meru County. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used to collect the required data. Descriptive and inferential statistics such as means, standard deviations and t-test statistic were used to analyze the data with the aid of the Scientific Package for Social Sciences version 20.0. Data analysis results revealed that although interpersonal adaptation impacted positively on academic achievement, there were no significant differences in the impact between boys and girls in boarding secondary schools. Thus, to improve and sustain academic achievement among secondary school students, measures need to be put in place to enhance interpersonal relationships among students as well as between students and school staff, school administrators, relatives and parents.