Perception, Awareness, Demand and Administration Support Of Guidance and Counselling Services in Public Teacher Training Colleges in Rift Valley Province, Kenya

Abstract

Guidance counsellors are tutors officially appointed to be in charge of the planning, development and the implementation of the guidance and counselling services in the college. These professionals need to be appropriately equipped with skills and training in order to carry out these responsibilities. However, without the administrative support for their implementation and maintenance, guidance and counselling services may not survive in any institution. Moreover, the perception of these services by those who utilize it is also crucial. Perception is the process which involves a response to sensation. It results from an interaction of how an individual expects the world to be and how it is presented to us through our senses. The aim of this paper is to assess the perception, awareness and demand, and the administration support of guidance and counselling services in public teachers training colleges in Kenya. The paper is based on a study conducted in selected public teachers training colleges in the Rift Valley region in Kenya. The study adopted a discipline survey targeting all the 2,658 second year students. A random sample of 335 students was selected. Ten tutor-cousellors were purposively selected and included in the sample. Data was collected using two structured questionnaires, one for the students and the other for tutor-counsellors. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 11.5 for windows. The reliability coefficient of 0.76 was obtained. The study findings indicated that the majority of the students had a positive perception towards guidance and counselling services. The tutor-counsellors had a positive perception towards the services being offered in public teachers training colleges. It was also established that majority of tutor-counsellors were not adequately trained to offer guidance and counselling services. Therefore, there is a need to improve the level of training of tutor-counsellors in guiding and counselling.

Keywords: Perception, Awareness, Demand, Administration Support, Guidance Counselling Services, Public Teacher Training Colleges, Rift Valley Province, Kenya