CORRELATE BETWEEN THE INFLUENCE OF FGM PRACTICE AND EARLY MARRIAGE: A CASE STUDY OF THE ILLCHAMUS COMMUNITY IN BARINGO COUNTY, KENYA

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) refers to all procedures involving the partial or total removal of all the external female genitalia or any other injury to the female genital organ for non-medical reasons. Many girls who have undergone FGM opt to gate married early as they view education as meaningless. The main purpose of this study was to determine correlates between the effects of FGM practice and early marriage among Illchamus girls. The Illchamus are pastoralists whose livelihood depended on livestock. Despite the immense awareness of the dangers of FGM practice on the victims in many aspects in life, efforts to eradicate it, still persists and thrives. The study was premised on the social exchange theory and adopted a descriptive research design. Purposive and random sampling techniques were used to identify the respondents for the study. The study targeted a population of 100,000 and a sample size of 384 respondents. The research adopted both qualitative and quantitative approaches to data collection which included questionnaires, key informant interview and the focus group discussions. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 for windows was used to analyze the data. Article visualizations

THE INFLUENCE OF ADMINISTRATORS’ PERCEPTION OF THE CHILDREN ACT 8 OF 2001 ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING PROGRAMME IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN EAST POKOT SUB-COUNTY, BARINGO COUNTY, KENYA

The Government of Kenya is committed to ensuring that all children within her borders have access to their rights as detailed in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. School administrators in Kenya are mandated with the responsibility of managing primary school activities, as well as the task of ensuring the success of the school programmes and their perceptions greatly determines the success of the implementation of educational policies of guidance and counselling programmes. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of administrators’ perception of the Children Act 8 of 2001 on the implementation of the guidance and counselling programme in public primary schools in East Pokot Sub-county, Baringo County, Kenya. The study was guided by client-centred approach theory and McGregor’s Theory X and Y. The ex post facto research design was utilized. The target population under study comprised the 438 administrators in East Pokot Sub County. The total sample size was 280 respondents consisting of 140 head teachers and 140 teacher counsellors from 140 sampled schools. Purposive sampling was used to select head teachers and teacher counsellors from the five school divisions in East Pokot Sub-county. Questionnaires were used to collect data from the respondents. The instruments were pilot tested in 20 primary schools in the neighbouring Samburu County. The validity of the instruments was checked by the researcher through expert judgement from the department of Psychology, Counselling and Educational Foundations, Laikipia University. Reliability was determined by the use of the Cronbach coefficient alpha. The questionnaire was considered reliable after yielding a reliability coefficient alpha of 0.96 since a Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.7 and above is considered sufficient to undertake the study. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer programme version 24.0 for windows was utilized to analyse the data. The data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics including percentages, means, and frequencies and simple regression which was tested at .05 level of significance. The study established that administrators’ perception of the Children Act 8 of 2001 influenced the implementation of the guidance and counselling programme in public primary schools in East Pokot Sub-county, Baringo County, Kenya. Findings might benefit the County Ministry of Education officers, parents, teachers and other stakeholders in the implementation of guidance and counselling programme in primary schools. The study determined that in the respondents’ opinion administrators’ perception of the Children Act 8 of 2001 does significantly influence the implementation of the guidance and counselling programme in public primary schools in East Pokot Sub-county, Baringo County, Kenya. The study thus recommends that intensive awareness on the Children Act 8 of 2001 among the administrators in primary schools be carried out to enhance the implementation of the guidance and counselling programme in public primary schools in the region.  Article visualizations

PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS INFLUENCING DRUG ABUSE AMONG YOUTHS IN INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS: A CASE STUDY OF MATHARE SLUMS, NAIROBI COUNTY, KENYA

Large population of youths in informal settlement in Kenya are involved in a number of social vices. These vices may include but not limited to robbery with violence, early marriages, dropping out of school and joining outlawed gangs. Youth involvement in social vices presents great concern to parents, government and non-governmental organizations. With increased prevalence of social vices in informal settlements in Kenya, this study was motivated to investigate the influence of psychosocial factors on drug abuse among the youths in Mathare informal settlements of Nairobi County, Kenya. This study sought to determine the effect of stress level as a psychosocial factor on drug abuse among the youths in Mathare informal settlement. The unit of analysis were persons of both genders falling between 18 years and 35 years of age. The target population was 17,894 youths of which a sample of 391 respondents was selected using proportionate stratified random sampling method. Data was collected using structured questionnaires and analysed using the linear regression analysis where hypotheses were tested at the .05 level of significance. The Content Validity Index (CVI) was utilized for the purposes of validity. The validity of the instruments was checked by the researcher who also sought the opinion of experts from the School of Education in Laikipia University. The reliability coefficients for questionnaire were estimated through Cronbach’s alpha. The resultant alpha for youth questionnaire was r= .827. The questionnaires were considered reliable after yielding a reliability coefficient alpha of at least 0.70. Both the descriptive statistics and inferential statistics was used by the study. The descriptive statistics that were used included the mean, standard deviations and frequency distributions. From the data analysis it was evident that stress level contributes to 2.8% of drug abuse cases among youth in Mathare informal settlements. The study recommends that county Government of Nairobi to economically empower the community of people with emphasis on the youths. This will help them think beyond immediate daily survival and assert greater control over their resources and life choices, especially decisions in investment in health, housing and education. Article visualizations

EFFECTIVENESS OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING PROGRAMME IN ENHANCING STUDENTS’ RETENTION IN PUBLIC DAY SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NYAHURURU SUB-COUNTY, KENYA

Student retention in schools however remains a global challenge and affects any social establishment in the world irrespective of a societies’ civilization. Non-completion of secondary schooling continues to be a matter of concern for policymakers and practitioners worldwide. Non-retention of students in schools means schools producing citizens who are not adequately prepared to be absorbed into the country’s labor force; instead of becoming a liability to those whom they depend on. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to determine the effectiveness of guidance and counseling programme in enhancing students’ retention in public day secondary schools in Nyahururu Sub-County, Laikipia County. The study used ex-post facto research design and was guided by the Person-Centered Theory and Retention Theory. Data was collected from proportionately sampled schools from the 26-public day secondary schools in the 6 zones namely: Gituamba, Igwamiti, Kinamba, Marmanet, Nyahururu and Salama of the sub-county which had a target of form 4 students’ population of 1855, 26 principals and 52 guidance and counseling teachers. Simple random sampling was used to determine the male and female students who were the primary respondents in this study while purposive sampling was used on the guidance and counseling teachers as well as the principals. A sample size of 341 participants was used in this study which comprised 174 boys, 155 girls, 6 guidance and counseling teachers and 6 principals. Data was collected using questionnaires that were filled by the student respondents and guidance and counseling teachers. An interview schedule was administered to the principals by the researcher. The validity of the research instruments was ensured by establishing their face validity and were verified by the research experts in the School of Education in Laikipia University. Reliability of the research instruments was achieved through a pilot study in 2 schools in the neighboring county of Nyandarua and were considered reliable after yielding a reliability coefficient of Cronbach’s alpha of 0.93. This indicated that the instruments were reliable. The data collected were sorted and analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Qualitative data were subjected to content analysis while quantitative data was analyzed descriptively in form of frequencies and percentages using SPSS version 24.0 software. The study found that the effectiveness of guidance and counseling programme enhanced students’ retention by helping students deal with challenges affecting personal and social life as well as academic achievement. The study recommended that the guidance and counseling programme should be supported by promoting teacher counsellor preparedness, the support given by the school administration and encouraging student gender receptiveness of the programme. The findings might benefit the Ministry of Education in enhancing students’ retention, school administrators in retaining students in school after enrolment, guidance and counseling teachers in acknowledging the input of guidance and counseling programme towards students’ retention, parents and students by getting enlightened on the support given in school to encourage students to remain focused in learning till completion of school.  Article visualizations