Discuss the development of guidance and counseling services in Kenya

The need for Guidance and Counseling Services in Kenya became more important in the early 1960s when the country was anticipating independence. There was need to train human-power and vocational guidance was part and parcel of this preparation. At the end of 1962, the Ministry of Labour in collaboration with the Ministry of Education came up with a plan to offer vocational guidance with the help of career masters in schools. In 1964 and again in 1970 it was recommended by the FORD Foundation report that all career masters and school libraries should be supplied with a comprehensive career guidebook. In 1965, the Ministry of Labour produced a booklet called ’Choosing Careers.’’ The book gave information on career selection to secondary school students.
In 1967, Guidance and Counseling Services was introduced in Kenya under the Ministry of Education. It was to be coordinated and supervised from the head office. Its main objective was to come up with definite recommendations on how guidance and counseling could support all learning activities of students.
In 1967, the ministry of labour produced another booklet entitled ‘helping you to choose a career’. The booklet aimed at finding out what careers were available in government and private sector. It was also to help school leavers to get started on careers they could succeed in. In 1970, a career hand book was launched ‘’careers guidance for Kenya’’. This book was revised in 1971. In July 1971 the guidance and counseling section was moved to inspectorate section. Since its inception, the Guidance and Counselling unit has been responsible for organizing in service courses, seminars, conferences and workshops for both teachers (career masters) and heads of schools. At the same time the head office carries out regular routine supervisory and advisory visits to all schools. The unit also prepares and disseminate guidance resource materials for teacher counselors e.g. a hand book for guidance and counseling which covers aspects of guidance and counseling such as classification and description of career and training opportunities open to school leavers. The book gives information on career selection for secondary school students. Guidance and counseling has been the concern of some of the education commissions. In 1976 for instance, the Gachathi Report recommended that the Ministry of Education expand its services to include guidance and counseling services. The head teacher of each school was to assign a member of staff to be responsible for providing information on guidance and counseling to all stakeholders’, teachers and parents inclusive. It was recommended that each school was to build and use cumulative record of students’ academic performance, home background, aptitudes and interests and special problems to facilitate guidance and counseling.
The report also recommended the establishment of courses at the university for training professional workers in guidance and counseling. The Kamunge report (1988) further recommended that schools should establish guidance and counseling services with senior teachers being responsible for them. This policy still stands as noted below: It is the responsibility of the head-teacher to ensure that Guidance and Counseling Services are offered to the pupils. Each school should establish a guidance and counseling committee headed by a teacher appointed by the head teacher (Ministry of Education, Human Resource Development, (MEHRD), 1999).The Presidential Committee on students’ unrest and indiscipline in Kenya Secondary School, (September 2001) in its report shows that the above directive has not been implemented in most schools. At the same time, the Ministry does not have a strong guidance and counseling division to coordinate all the activities of guidance and counseling in the country. The division needs to be equipped with relevant personnel and resources to facilitate its functions.

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francis1897 answered the question on March 15, 2023 at 13:18