Extensiveness of Guidance and Counseling Services in Influencing Students’ Compliance with School Rules and Regulations in Public Secondary Schools in Muleba District, Tanzania

Abstract

This study sought to establish the extensiveness of guidance and counseling services in influencing students’ compliance with school rules and regulations through a convergent design under a mixed research approach. The study targeted 39 public secondary schools with 39 heads of schools, 39 school counselors, 843 teachers, and 27477 students, making a total of 28398 in Muleba District. The sample purposively involved 8 heads of schools and 8 school counselors in an interview, while 80 teachers and 96 students were randomly selected to respond to the questionnaires. Quantitative data were descriptively analyzed with the help of the SPSS, while qualitative data were thematically summarized. The study found that there are opposing opinions between teacher counselors and students on the use of guidance and counseling in secondary schools. The extreme majority of the teachers indicated applying guidance and counseling principles in helping students comply with rules. Students revealed that they are not very considerate about providing services in complying with school rules and regulations. The study concluded that guidance and counseling services are used by teachers to enable students to comply with school rules and regulations to a high extent despite the fact that students' indiscipline cases are on the rise. The study concludes further that the guidance and counseling services offered by secondary teachers are not adequately used to subject students to observe school rules and regulations. The study recommends that the government train and employ more qualified counselors who are well-equipped with knowledge on providing guidance and counseling to enhance students' compliance with school rules and regulations.