contributions of guidance and counselling services on primary school pupils’ hiv/aids awareness in bungoma south sub-county, kenya

Abstract

Like every other socioeconomic sector in the country, the education sector in Kenya has immensely felt the impact of the HIV and AIDS epidemic. This is eroding the sector gains to the extent that Kenya, as is the case of many sub-Saharan African countries, is beginning to experience a reversal of hard-won gains; affecting supply, demand, and quality of education. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the contribution of guidance and counseling services to pupils’ HIV/AIDS awareness in Bungoma South Sub-County. The specific objectives were: to identify the counseling strategies employed by counselors for HIV/AIDS awareness among pupils; to determine how much information pupils have about HIV/AIDS through guidance and counseling services in their schools; to examine the influence counseling on pupils’ HIV/AIDS awareness; and to explore the challenges experienced by guidance and counseling teachers in the dissemination of HIV/AIDS awareness information among the pupils. The study adopted the Rational Emotive Behaviour Theory propounded by Ellis to provide a theoretical basis for the study. This study used the descriptive research design. The study was conducted among primary school pupils in Bungoma South Sub-County. A total of 64 pupils were randomly selected from standard 8, and all the 32 counseling teachers from 16 sampled schools in the sub-county. The principal data collection instrument was the structured questionnaire administered to both teachers and pupils in these schools. Data was collected through administration of the questionnaires by the researcher. Data analysis was done through coding and sorting based on the objectives of the study, to yield frequencies and percentages. The results were presented using descriptive statistics on tables and charts. The study found that there were no specific counseling strategies employed by teachers to provide HIV/AIDS awareness in schools. However, general approaches to creating awareness were used. Moreover, the study found that these approaches were able to create significant awareness among pupils regarding HIV/AIDS and were effective in doing so. The study also found that teachers were limited in their quest to effectively guide and counsel pupils due to their dual roles in school, lack of seminars and workshops, and lack of administrative support for their work. The study recommended a more proactive approach to sensitizing and empowering counselors to provide more effective counseling services in schools; as well as engaging professional counselors in all schools to avoid duality in relationship between students and teachers.