Functional Roles of Principals in Enhancing School Guidance and Counseling for Effective Control of Drug Abuse among Students in Kenya

Abstract

Drug abuse is a major headache to societies and authorities around the world. In spite of massive efforts at research and public education, drug abuse remains a major subject about which there exists great confusion and uncertainty. It has been identified as a major cause of indiscipline, unrest, violent strikes, massive school dropouts and poor examination performance in secondary schools. Drug abuse has previously been treated as a discipline problem leading to use of punitive methods to control it. Currently however, punitive control methods have been substituted with client-friendly ones such as guidance and counselling. But despite the use of guidance and counselling to control the vice in secondary schools, the vice still persists implying that there is discrepancy in the way it is offered and practiced. Hence, the need for principals to execute various professional functions to strengthen school guidance and counselling for effective drug abuse control. The purpose of this research therefore was to examine the functional roles performed by principals to enhance guidance and counselling of students with the aim of curbing drug abuse. The study was based on the role theory and descriptive survey design was employed. The sample consisted of 32 principals. A questionnaire was the main research instrument. Data was analyzed and presented descriptively. The findings revealed that most principals performed professional functions such as incorporating pastoral services in the guidance and counselling programme, serving as the role models in drug abuse control and training teachers in guidance and counselling. The major problem experienced by head teachers while performing these roles revolved around scarcity of financial, human and material resources. The major solution suggested to close the scarcity gap was provision of these resources. The study made the following recommendations: principals should explore diverse ways of raising funds to be used in promoting guidance and counselling activities; increase  public sensitization campaigns to enlighten the society on the causes, symptoms and effects of drug abuse on the youth and society at large; encourage high levels of collaboration among all stakeholders in drug abuse control; and offsetting some teaching load from teacher counsellors to avail Them Adequate Time To Attend To The Guidance And Counselling Needs Of Students, For Instance, Drug Abuse.